(NYT) As Large Companies Opt Out, Concerns Grow for Workers’ Compensation System

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/us/fears-grow-for-workers-compensation-system-as-large-texas-companies-opt-out.html?_r=1


Todd Wiseman for The Texas Tribune

Walmart set up its own plan for occupational injury claims.
By BECCA AARONSON
Published: April 7, 2012

When Walmart, one of Texas’ largest private employers, dropped out of the state’s workers’ compensation system in March, it was a heavy blow to advocates of the system, who have watched more large companies offer private — and in many cases, less generous — injury benefits.

Texas is the only state in the country that allows employers of any size to decline to carry state-regulated workers’ compensation coverage. Businesses administer their own injury benefit programs, reaping big cost savings in exchange for exposing themselves to heightened liability risks. Target, for example, began administering its own injury care policy in 2005.

Fifteen percent of Texas businesses with more than 500 employees do not carry state workers’ compensation coverage, according to a 2010 survey conducted by the Texas Department of Insurance.

Daniel Morales, a spokesman for Walmart, said the company is “sort of late to the game” of switching to its own program. The new policy gives the company “an opportunity to provide better care for our associates while also better managing our costs,” he said in an e-mail.

FULL story at link.

[yourout]

1. "managing our costs".....yah right. "Maximizing Profits" is what he really meant to say.

Bunch of fricking Ferengi.