YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES

Global Search
Saturday May 26, 2012

Change Location

Enter Zip Code

Use this as my default zip.
« Identity theft tops consumer complaints to federal agency
Turbines and hand dryers no, hyperbaric chamber yes: where’s stimulus money going in Minnesota, Vol. II »

Injured workers in Minnesota underpaid by $3 million, audit shows

Posted on March 3rd, 2009 – 1:17 PM
By James Shiffer

From time to time, Whistleblower hears from injured workers who are unhappy with how their claims for compensation were handled. Though I haven’t yet taken on this daunting subject, I was interested to see that injured workers were shortchanged about $3 million in each of the past five years, a Legislative Auditor’s report found, although those identifiable errors accounted for less than 1 percent of the average $470 million paid out each year by insurers. (Associated Press story here). The audit of the workers’ compensation system in Minnesota identified several issues, among them:

There are fewer state inspectors who ensure employers carry workers compensation coverage, declining from the equivalent of 6.5 in 2000 to 3.5 last year.

While overall numbers of workers comp claims are falling, disputes between injured workers and insurers are rising

The alternative dispute resolution process is a confusing tangle

In response to the audit, state Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Steve Sviggum said the agency supports the following reforms:

“• To streamline the alternative dispute resolution process by expanding a Union Construction Workers’ Compensation Program and realigning the duties between the Office of Administrative Hearings and our agency.
• To allocate funding for improvements to the information technology systems.”

Should you want to make your way through the full 93-page report, click here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Problems on the job. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Injured workers in Minnesota underpaid by $3 million, audit shows”

  1. Greg Staffa Says:
    March 4th, 2009 at 10:17 am

    My work Comp claim cost me my house and thus destroy my credit. I was injured at work while working. For 9 months it was a work comp claim. Then one day the insurance company told me to see a physical therapist in a strip mall in Woodbury. His conclusion was that I was hurt at work while working but I was fat so it must have been my fault. We went to court and the Judge ruled that it was unclear how the Insurance Dr came to that conclusion. That he “offered no anatomical explanation for such a casual connection… nor is there any logical/common sense connection apparent”

    I was forced to take a $1000 a month pay cut while this got sorted out for almost 2 years. Lawyer fees added up and the insurance company is great at finding loopholes to get out of paying. I am now permanently disabled, at 34 years old I can never lift more then 20 pounds the rest of my life. For that I got $0 2 years on a $1000 plus pay cut will really hurt your finances. There is not much you can cut from your budget to make up over $1000 a month.

    I fell behind on my mortgage waiting for this to all get figured out. I contacted my bank of 34 years (teacher federal credit union) and they refused to talk. They told me basically pay or lose your home. After being 3 months behind the credit union froze all my accounts. Now they have my assets and still won’t talk to me.

    My house will be foreclosed April 6 2009. By the time I get the money owed to me I will be so far behind that it will be too late.

    Had this been a work comp from day one I would not be losing my house. But because some Strip mall Dr made a judgment based on my body size that a judge ruled “offered no anatomical explanation for such a casual connection… nor is there any logical/common sense connection apparent” rather then medical fact I am on the verge of losing everything.

    Greg Staffa
    Farmington MN
    http://www.gregstaffa.com

Subscribe to Whistleblower

Learn more about RSS

The Star Tribune investigates

Categories