3 Ways to Bankrupt the North Carolina Workers' Compensation System

April 3, 2011, by Michael A. DeMayo

A lot of what we discuss here on this blog pertains to constructive ideas for how to repair the North Carolina workers’ compensation system and help employers, employees, insurance companies, and the state understand one another’s positions and deal with problems like adults. But what if, instead of thinking constructively, we took the opposite tack for a minute – thought of ways to cause the North Carolina workers’ compensation system to spiral even MORE out of control?

Here are three ways to make everyone’s life harder and more frustrating…

1. Encourage employees to work harder and longer… and to spend WAY more time on the computer.

Could there be a better recipe for breaking the system than encouraging blue collar and white collars workers alike to spend more time online, more time on their cell phones and more time at the office? We’re clearly not “wired up” enough; so why not encourage our workers to spend more hours squinting at computer screens, staying late at the office, and generally working themselves to the bone? It will generate more revenue in the short term, right? And isn’t the short-term the only thing that counts?

2. Escalate ad hominem attacks and expand the “blame game.”

The last five or six years has seen the advent of an explosively close-minded political climate. Political figures and “average Joe’s” alike tend to find niche media that support their views. They only listen to the ideas and concerns of their in-group.

In other words… if you’re an insurance company, you’ll hang out with other people who like insurance companies. If you’re an employee, you’ll only listen to what other employees and labor groups say. If you’re a small business owner, you’ll only confab with small business owners.

Let’s make these distinctions clearer and shriller. Spread the blame around. Get louder and more political. Get more ad hominem. Even if this won’t directly skyrocket workers’ comp costs and cause the drag on the system, it will at least shred everyone’s temper and reduce the chance of compromise in the future.

3. Make things more complicated!

Let’s add more bureaucracy to the system. Longer wait times, more forms, more paperwork for employers, more paperwork for employees, more paperwork for insurance companies, and more paperwork for government bureaucrats.

Let’s make the rules and regulations governing NC workers’ comp more difficult to understand; and let’s change those rules at arbitrary intervals, so that no one has time or energy to catch up.

That ought to do it. That ought to seriously impede any progress we might be able to make towards making the system fair and more functional.

All snarkiness and kidding aside, if you’re caught up in the middle of a North Carolina workers’ compensation battle with a corporation, insurance company, or other entity, you may feel beleaguered and helpless. Fortunately, a variety of surprising resources may be available to help you get the benefits that you need and deserve. A high-quality North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can deliver results and vastly simplify your benefits-related crisis.

More Web Resources:

Time on the computer is costly

How to make things more complicated than they need to be