Response from the Governator...
 

On Jul 9, 2007, at 4:50 PM, governor@govmail.ca.gov wrote:

Thank you for contacting me regarding workers' compensation. I appreciate hearing from people who care about the important issues facing our state.

As Governor, I am committed to ensuring quality health care for injured workers and improving California's business environment. Workers' compensation costs were skyrocketing before I took office, and my reforms have lowered costs and ensured that objective medical standards are used to compensate workers based on the extent of their injuries. As a result, premiums have fallen dramatically since 2003 and saved businesses billions of dollars that they have used to hire more workers.

These efforts have helped to restore prosperity to our economy, creating more than 650,000 new jobs in California, improving accountability in the system and reducing costs by providing for prompt, effective medical treatment. The reforms also created medical provider networks and a new permanent disability rating schedule and reward employers who return workers to their jobs.

Again, thank you for taking the time to write. I welcome any ideas and comments that can help improve the future of California.

Sincerely,


Arnold Schwarzenegger

"As Governor, I am committed to ensuring quality health care for injured workers and improving California's business environment. Workers' compensation costs were skyrocketing before I took office, and my reforms have lowered costs and ensured that objective medical standards are used to compensate workers based on the extent of their injuries. As a result, premiums have fallen dramatically since 2003 and saved businesses billions of dollars that they have used to hire more workers."

I believe the reforms just pushed injured worker's into unemployment, welfare, government disability and created more financial hardships for injured worker's families. Medical Standards, who decides how much disability or to what extent that disability injured worker's are left with the result of being injured on the job. "Saved businesses billions of dollars". That's unfortunately the bottom line. Employer's pay the premiums, so this is not an impartial system, is it? "Hire more worker's", What about the injured worker that wasn't accomodated by thier employer after thier work related injury?
I truly believe that employee's and employer's should pay into the system. I believe this would be the only way that the employee and the employer have any equality. This is just my opinion.