Benefits and Earnings Losses for Permanently Disabled Workers in California: Trends Through the Great Recession and Impacts of Recent Reforms

Dworsky, Michael; Seabury, Seth A.; Neuhauser, Frank W.; Kharel, Ujwal; Euller, Roald

doi:10.7249/wr1141

Cited by 8 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…An ex ante evaluation of the RTWSP's impact on benefit adequacy and equity was included in the wage loss study by Dworsky et al (2016). The authors found that the value of the RTWSP for the average worker with PD would be modest in comparison to the other benefit hikes included in SB 863 and that impacts on either vertical or horizontal equity would be muted.…”

Section: Anticipated Effects Of the Return-to-work Supplement Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to this decline in PD ratings and PPD benefits, the proportion of lost earnings that was replaced by PPD benefits (i.e., the wage replacement rate) fell by 26 percent in the three years after the reforms (Seabury et al, 2011). Wage replacement rates for permanently disabled workers dropped even more sharply after the Great Recession of 2008-2009 and California's slow labor market recovery made it even more difficult for disabled workers to return to work or find new employment following injury (Dworsky et al, 2016).…”

Section: Acsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lack of data on earnings losses for these workers makes it difficult to evaluate directly whether the RTWSP is targeting the subset of the PD worker population with disproportionate earnings losses in comparison to their PPD benefits. Dworsky et al (2016), in an analysis of earnings losses and PD benefits leading up to SB 863, found that wage replacement rates (relative to earnings losses over the first five years after injury) rose steadily with workers' combined final rating before apportionment. 28 However, as other researchers who have studied workers' compensation have noted, comparing wage replacement rates across workers with different degrees of earnings loss can be misleading (Savych and Hunt, 2017).…”

Section: Size Of Rtw Supplement Payments In Comparison To Other Indemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These changes, which were partially implemented in 2013 and fully implemented in 2014, led to significant increases in the amount of PPD benefits paid out to workers (Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California, 2017a). A wage loss study that used data on disability evaluations performed under the SB 899 rating system to provide an ex ante evaluation of the PPD changes in SB 863 found that after-tax wage replacement rates for workers injured between 2005 and 2012 would have been 18 percentage points higher (76.8 percent versus 58.8 percent) due to the higher PPD ratings and the higher maximum weekly benefit (Dworsky et al, 2016). Because SB 863 retained the AMA Guides as the primary input into the disability rating system, the fairness of the PPD benefit system was not meaningfully affected by the PPD reforms in SB 863.…”

Section: Reforms To Permanent Partial Disability Benefits In Senate Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4 Permanently disabled workers in California have historically experienced quite severe earnings losses as a result of their injuries. The most recent published estimates of earnings losses for permanently disabled workers in California found that permanently disabled workers injured between 2005 and 2011 earned 29 percent less than they would have in the third year after their injuries (Dworsky et al, 2016). The bulk of earnings losses are driven by workers whose disability results in the loss of employment: Permanently disabling injuries led to a 24-percent reduction in the probability of employment three years after injury, though reduced hours, slower wage growth, and transitions to lower-paying jobs can also contribute to earnings losses among those who remain employed (Dworsky et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of the Return-to-Work Fund in California's Workers' Compensation System: Performance to Date and Options for Modification

Dworsky¹,

Quigley²,

Rennane³

et al. 2018

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This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR2548Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2018 State of California Department of Industrial RelationsR® is a registered trademark.iii Preface This report describes work undertaken by the RAND Corporation for the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) to evaluate California's Return-to-Work (RTW) Fund as it approaches its third year of implementation. The main tasks of the mixed-methods evaluation are (1) to evaluate the adequacy and equity of the Return-to-Work Supplement Program that was created to implement the RTW Fund and (2) to identify any practices and policies that would improve the adequacy, equity, and efficiency of the Return-to-Work Supplement Program's administration.This research builds directly on a number of past RAND studies for DIR and the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation. Most immediately, a 2014 RAND study (Seth A. Seabury and Ethan Scherer, Identifying Permanently Disabled Workers with Disproportionate Earnings Losses for Supplemental Payments, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, RR-425-CHSWC, 2014, available at www.rand.org/t/RR425) contained analysis and policy recommendations that informed the design of the program under evaluation in the present study.A draft version of this report was posted online for public comment from April to May 2018. As of June 14, 2018, the resulting comments can be accessed at https://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/Reports/2018/Public_Com_RTW_Fund_Draft_Report.pdf. RAND Institute for Civil JusticeThe RAND Institute for Civil Justice (ICJ) is dedicated to improving the civil justice system by supplying policymakers and the public with rigorous and nonpartisan research. Its studies identify trends in litigation and inform policy choices about liability, compensation, regulation, risk management, and insurance. The institute builds on a long tradition of RAND Corporation research characterized by an interdisciplinary, empirical approach to public...

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Section: Anticipated Effects Of the Return-to-work Supplement Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Acsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Size Of Rtw Supplement Payments In Comparison To Other Indemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reforms To Permanent Partial Disability Benefits In Senate Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of the Return-to-Work Fund in California's Workers' Compensation System: Performance to Date and Options for Modification

Dworsky¹,

Quigley²,

Rennane³

et al. 2018

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Do temporary workers experience additional employment and earnings risk after workplace injuries?

Broten

Dworsky

Powell

2022

Journal of Public Economics

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Knowledge, germs, and output

Shi

2023

Review of Economic Dynamics

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Benefits and Earnings Losses for Permanently Disabled Workers in California: Trends Through the Great Recession and Impacts of Recent Reforms

Cited by 8 publications

References 18 publications

Evaluation of the Return-to-Work Fund in California's Workers' Compensation System: Performance to Date and Options for Modification

Evaluation of the Return-to-Work Fund in California's Workers' Compensation System: Performance to Date and Options for Modification

Do temporary workers experience additional employment and earnings risk after workplace injuries?

Knowledge, germs, and output

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