Workers' Compensation: Containing the Costs (Report #120, February 1993)

California's Workers' Compensation System costs $11 billion annually yet fails to adequately serve injured workers. Areas of concern include delivery systems for medical care, rehabilitation services, fraud prevention, medical/legal reports and stress claims. The report concludes that the state must take immediate steps to institute reform and reduce premiums. In addition, the report notes that of the three major issues that require reform by California's government -- education, health care and workers' compensation -- only workers' compensation can be reformed without the infusion of billions of dollars and only it has the potential of immediately affecting the State's economy. The Commission presents four findings and nine recommendations to reform the present system, including reducing medical costs through managed care; making changes in the vocational rehabilitation program; and restricting stress claims.

A Review of the Current Problems in California's Workers' Compensation System (Report #87, March 1988)

The Commission's original workers' compensation study focuses on the system's escalating costs, the expansion of liability into new and subjective areas of benefits, and the negative effects of the increasing cost of the system upon workers, employers and the State's business climate. The report contains eight findings and 13 recommendations. Foremost among these, the Commission recommends establishing written criteria for opening and closing workers' compensation fraud and abuse cases; establishing a method for identifying employers who intentionally fail to report wages; and establishing a method of identifying employers who change business or corporate identities to avoid being properly rated.

A Report on the Liability Insurance Crisis in the State of California (Report #74, July 1986)

This study identifies five major factors in the liability insurance crisis in California, including the evolution of tort reform, lack of predictability in risk assessment, unsound rate-setting practices, withdrawal of the reinsurance market, and the Insurance Commissioner's lack of authority in the rate-setting process. The report contains 16 findings and 16 recommendations, which include establishing a "cap" on the recovery of compensatory damages in personal injury actions; prohibiting collusion between plaintiffs and settling defendants; and establishing a stricter burden of proof for punitive damages.