Garamendi Offers Calif. WC Plan With Labor Tilt

By Caroline McDonald

NU Online News Service, Feb. 10, 3:48 p.m. EST?California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi today proposed a plan to reform workers' compensation he said would bridge business and labor and urged the legislature to move on the issue by the end of March.[@@]

Mr. Garamendi, a Democrat, said that his proposals differed from a bill drafted for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor, he said, had "correctly identified and followed" up on workers' compensation issues that had been previously laid out, but had "done it in a way that labor objects to."

Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Garamendi said he has attempted to address the same issues, getting the same savings, but "in a way that works for the labor community" by providing quality medical care and appropriate lost wages to injured workers. When asked about those savings, he said numbers were not yet available.

His proposals, he said, could serve as a "structure, a bridge," so that as the Legislature considers the governor's measure, it will have a way of "resolving the dispute that exists between labor and business."

He said his proposals will be heard tomorrow in the Assembly Insurance Committee following the governor's bill, and that while they are in bill format, it has not been filed.

He emphasized that he does not oppose the governor's bill, but that the "votes are not there in the Legislature for the governor's bill. We need to find a different way of achieving the goals that I laid out in my road map last spring."

Mr. Garamendi said Monday that his plan would reduce the amount of litigation plaguing the system, which takes money away from both employers and injured employees.

Workers' compensation costs California employers more than $30 billion a year, Mr. Garamendi said, compared with $9 billion in 1995 when he ended an earlier term as commissioner. Employers now pay $6.30 out of every $100 of their payroll for workers' compensation, an increase of about $1 per $100 in a year's time.

He added that he does not yet have an estimate of how much his plan would save California employers, but has a consultant studying the issue.

Sen. Charles Poochigian, R-Fresno, who is sponsoring Mr. Schwarzenegger's plan, estimated the governor's plan could save employers $11 billion a year. On average nationally, employers are spending $2.46 per $100 of payroll, he said.

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Garamendi Offers Calif. WC Plan With Labor Tilt

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