TO THE EDITOR:
I enjoy NH Business Review and appreciate the effort put in by all your staff to bring relevant news and info to New Hampshire residents and business professionals.
As a 20-year veteran of the insurance industry, my interest was piqued when I saw the headline, “Skip this article if you’re happy with workers’ comp” (April 22-May NH Business Review). I was interested to hear what aspects of workers’ comp employees and employers were up in arms over.
I then proceeded to read an article where each consecutive paragraph cast broad, vague and uncorroborated aspersions about an entire industry and system while not providing supporting evidence or any concrete solutions for the “problems” facing said system.
It’s been my experience that while the workers’ comp system is not perfect, in general it operates fairly well. The vast majority of feedback from insureds/employers and injured employees is that the system worked as it should have. In fact, it’s so geared toward erring on the side of caution when dealing with injured employees that benefits are sometimes paid and medical care provided to individuals whose injuries were likely not sustained at work.
That, to me, is a broad indicator that this system is geared toward the primary business of making injured employees well, not taking advantage of or victimizing them. Overall, injured employees are being treated, their lost wages paid and they are returning to work. Workers’ comp rates have steadily declined over at least the last five years, if not more, reducing costs for employers and reflecting the reality of lower loss costs and safer work environments for employees.
For example, the state of New Hampshire loss cost for interior carpentry, class code 5437 has dropped from 6.29 in 2018 to 4.64 in 2022. Frankly, it’s a pretty great thing that injured employees are so valued and taken care of the way they are by our culture/system. I believe the bias of the article is very much in step with the “system isn’t perfect, so it must be broken and in need of reform or tearing down” type of thinking we’re seeing in many places these days.
The article contains many statements like the following:
“The U.S. Department of Labor has said that a lack of trust in the system represents a fundamental threat to the long-term viability of workers’ comp programs in general. The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) also identified “trust in the workplace” as potentially playing a critical role in both medical and return-towork outcomes.”
It’s data-less, opinionated statements like these that are used to perpetuate a feeling or emotion in the absence of real facts, research and, frankly, real journalism. I have no problem with opinion pieces. In fact, they’re necessary to create thought, discussion, etc. However, flowery wording and fact-less opinion statements only amount to one individual’s hobby rant, with no corroborating info.
JOE CZARNECKI
CONTOOCOOK
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