With more than 3.7 million work-related injuries and illnesses reported in 2013, these changes are hurting households across the country. But workers' comp legislation rarely gets significant news coverage, in part because it's such a bureaucratic system that varies state to state.
With this Reporting Recipe, we want to make it easier for journalists to find and report stories on changes in workers' comp policies and the impact on local workers. Read on for reporting tips, data and help finding potential sources.
New laws in 33 states essentially did three things: They reduced benefits, gave employers and insurers more control over medical care or made it more difficult for workers with certain injuries and diseases to qualify.
To give the public a better sense of the national scope of the changes, ProPublica scoured state laws and built a database highlighting the most significant provisions. You can find it here. How have policies changed in your state? What groups or companies influenced those changes? How do they compare to those in neighboring states?
For more context on policies by state, here are a few other resources that might be helpful:
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration report on workers' comp changes
National Academy of Social Insurance annual workers' comp report
National Council on Compensation Insurance state presentations
Finally, many state workers' comp systems produce their own annual reports with specific statistics. Be sure to check their websites.