The North Carolina Advocates for Justice (NCAJ) has launched a new Web site (www.ProtectingInjuredWorkers.com) to inform North Carolinians about potential legislation that will restrict their rights if injured on the job.
Legislative initiatives currently being discussed in North Carolina include:
- Setting a cap on the compensation a worker can receive if injured on the job, even if they can never return to work;
- Giving injured workers less say in the medical care they receive;
- Forcing injured workers to take non-suitable jobs;
- Giving insurance companies and their attorneys more access to a workers' private medical records.
Even if you are never injured at work, these changes will affect you. Cutting off compensation to those too disabled to return to work will force injured workers to go on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or other government assistance. Though insurance companies have collected premiums from their employers -- in some cases, for many years -- its taxpayers that will be left paying the bill.