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| (210) 995-4430 |
| Center for Injured Workers, Inc. A Non-Profit Corporation |
| From The Director |
| CIW |
Dear Reader,
Television and newspaper ads, magazine articles, and other news media from wealthy workers' compensation
insurance companies have convinced non-injured employees and a large portion of the general public to believe
that the employee injured in the course and scope of employment is a malingerer, a deadbeat, or just a plain lazy
person who is looking for a handout. CIW has challenged news alerts aired by some TV companies which have
used video clips from personal injury cases being portrayed as workers' compensation injured employees. I
intend to keep fighting for injured workers in an effort to correct this injustice.
Before I retired from the corporate world, I handled workers' compensation claims for employees injured on the job
as a Corporate Administrator for several companies and I can attest that the number of fraudulent claims from
injured workers was very insignificant. As Executive Director for the Center for Injured Workers for over 10 years,
I still have not read any factual or verifiable information placing fraudulent claims from injured workers at or above
1% of the total claims. Since this is the case, why are 99% of employees injured in the course and scope of
employment being penalized for the violations committed by 1%?
I have heard workers' compensation insurance companies allege that the high cost of employers' workers'
compensation insurance premiums are due not only to a massive amount of fraudulent claims but also to the high
fees charged by plaintiff attorneys and injured workers' treating doctors. I can categorically state that the workers'
compensation insurance carriers are responsible for the continued increases in workers' compensation premiums.
This can be verified by State Legislators if they have a Legislative investigation and audit of injured employee
benefits and the carriers' allocated expenses or codes where the expenditures to high cost attorneys, expert
witnesses, IME/RME doctors, peer review doctors, case managers, investigators, rehab nurses, and
miscellaneous expenses. Instead State Legislators enacted legislation that sounds like it is intended to help
injured workers when in truth it makes it more difficult for injured workers to hire a plaintiff attorney and to get
medical care. Because the injured worker is prohibited from hiring an attorney if they are not receiving some
form of workers' compensation payments, the injured worker is left to use an ombudsman who only gives the
injured worker 15 minutes to determine how the injured worker can be helped. The real intent of the Act has been
engineered by workers' compensation insurance lobbyists who bought State Legislators to enact an Act that
favors the insurance carrier and the employer so that employer workers' compensation premium can be lowered
at the expense of injured workers.
Since the reformation of workers' compensation started to reduce workers' compensation benefits, the cost of
workers' compensation has kept going up, while the number of injured workers' claims has kept going down. The
Division of Workers' Compensation has bragged that 95% of the injured workers find a solution at the Benefit
Review Conference. From the record it appears that 95 of the injured workers have settled BUT IN FACT, the
unrepresented injured employee was no match for the powerful, experienced workers' compensation lawyers they
faced at the Benefit Review Conference. It is unconscionable for Texans to allow State Legislators and
unscrupulous insurance carriers to gang up on defenseless injured workers. If State Legislators are not
influenced by money, why do they turn a blind eye on the devious activities of workers' compensation insurance
companies? They are the ones responsible for making workers' compensation cost go up. The insurance
companies don't care how much money they spend to deny, delay, or refuse workers' compensation claims. They
are the main contributors for the spiraling high cost of workers' compensation.
Employees injured on the job are not bad people. They are victims of poor safety training or no training at all.
Lack of safety enforcement in the workplace compounds the problem. Injured employees want to return back to
work. They have a family and they want to return to being productive wage earning citizens so that they can
provide for their family's basic living needs.
I ask, "Why should the children suffer and go hungry or even lose their home because their working father or
mother sustained a legitimate injury on the job and the workers' compensation company arbitrarily refuses to
approve workers' compensation benefits?" The insurance company can afford to delay compensation benefits as
long as it wants because the insurance company does not suffer any consequences, BUT the children, who
depend on the money earned by their working parent(s) to meet basic living expenses, suffer severe
consequences due to the economic calamity brought about by the frivolous delay of workers' compensation
benefits.
I ask Texans to refuse to accept this inhumane treatment of children of employees who are injured in the coarse
and scope of employment. I ask Texans to help CIW minimize this injustice to children of injured workers by
sending their tax deductible charitable contributions to CIW. Will you stand up to help protect the children of
injured workers from the unreasonable, abusive acts of workers' compensation insurance carriers? Will you say
"YES" and send your financial tax deductible contribution today? Thank you.
With Kind Regards,
Carolyn Arambula
Executive Director
Television and newspaper ads, magazine articles, and other news media from wealthy workers' compensation
insurance companies have convinced non-injured employees and a large portion of the general public to believe
that the employee injured in the course and scope of employment is a malingerer, a deadbeat, or just a plain lazy
person who is looking for a handout. CIW has challenged news alerts aired by some TV companies which have
used video clips from personal injury cases being portrayed as workers' compensation injured employees. I
intend to keep fighting for injured workers in an effort to correct this injustice.
Before I retired from the corporate world, I handled workers' compensation claims for employees injured on the job
as a Corporate Administrator for several companies and I can attest that the number of fraudulent claims from
injured workers was very insignificant. As Executive Director for the Center for Injured Workers for over 10 years,
I still have not read any factual or verifiable information placing fraudulent claims from injured workers at or above
1% of the total claims. Since this is the case, why are 99% of employees injured in the course and scope of
employment being penalized for the violations committed by 1%?
I have heard workers' compensation insurance companies allege that the high cost of employers' workers'
compensation insurance premiums are due not only to a massive amount of fraudulent claims but also to the high
fees charged by plaintiff attorneys and injured workers' treating doctors. I can categorically state that the workers'
compensation insurance carriers are responsible for the continued increases in workers' compensation premiums.
This can be verified by State Legislators if they have a Legislative investigation and audit of injured employee
benefits and the carriers' allocated expenses or codes where the expenditures to high cost attorneys, expert
witnesses, IME/RME doctors, peer review doctors, case managers, investigators, rehab nurses, and
miscellaneous expenses. Instead State Legislators enacted legislation that sounds like it is intended to help
injured workers when in truth it makes it more difficult for injured workers to hire a plaintiff attorney and to get
medical care. Because the injured worker is prohibited from hiring an attorney if they are not receiving some
form of workers' compensation payments, the injured worker is left to use an ombudsman who only gives the
injured worker 15 minutes to determine how the injured worker can be helped. The real intent of the Act has been
engineered by workers' compensation insurance lobbyists who bought State Legislators to enact an Act that
favors the insurance carrier and the employer so that employer workers' compensation premium can be lowered
at the expense of injured workers.
Since the reformation of workers' compensation started to reduce workers' compensation benefits, the cost of
workers' compensation has kept going up, while the number of injured workers' claims has kept going down. The
Division of Workers' Compensation has bragged that 95% of the injured workers find a solution at the Benefit
Review Conference. From the record it appears that 95 of the injured workers have settled BUT IN FACT, the
unrepresented injured employee was no match for the powerful, experienced workers' compensation lawyers they
faced at the Benefit Review Conference. It is unconscionable for Texans to allow State Legislators and
unscrupulous insurance carriers to gang up on defenseless injured workers. If State Legislators are not
influenced by money, why do they turn a blind eye on the devious activities of workers' compensation insurance
companies? They are the ones responsible for making workers' compensation cost go up. The insurance
companies don't care how much money they spend to deny, delay, or refuse workers' compensation claims. They
are the main contributors for the spiraling high cost of workers' compensation.
Employees injured on the job are not bad people. They are victims of poor safety training or no training at all.
Lack of safety enforcement in the workplace compounds the problem. Injured employees want to return back to
work. They have a family and they want to return to being productive wage earning citizens so that they can
provide for their family's basic living needs.
I ask, "Why should the children suffer and go hungry or even lose their home because their working father or
mother sustained a legitimate injury on the job and the workers' compensation company arbitrarily refuses to
approve workers' compensation benefits?" The insurance company can afford to delay compensation benefits as
long as it wants because the insurance company does not suffer any consequences, BUT the children, who
depend on the money earned by their working parent(s) to meet basic living expenses, suffer severe
consequences due to the economic calamity brought about by the frivolous delay of workers' compensation
benefits.
I ask Texans to refuse to accept this inhumane treatment of children of employees who are injured in the coarse
and scope of employment. I ask Texans to help CIW minimize this injustice to children of injured workers by
sending their tax deductible charitable contributions to CIW. Will you stand up to help protect the children of
injured workers from the unreasonable, abusive acts of workers' compensation insurance carriers? Will you say
"YES" and send your financial tax deductible contribution today? Thank you.
With Kind Regards,
Carolyn Arambula
Executive Director
