Panel to study workers’ comp system

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 9:16 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A legislative committee headed by Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, began a study Thursday looking into conflicting views of how the privatized workers' compensation system is working since it replaced the state's program.

In a prepared statement this week, Gov. Kenny Guinn said since private companies took over coverage of industrial insurance for injured workers in 2000, premiums for employers have decreased 20 percent.

Nevada Supreme Court Justice Bill Maupin has a different view. In an order filed earlier this year, Maupin wrote that the system has become "unwieldy and cumbersome."

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, called for the study. He said workers who are injured are not treated fairly under the current system.

O'Connell said the six-member committee must first "find out where we are" and then start determining what changes should be made. The committee directed state agencies to compile statistics to show trends since the workers' compensation system was turned over to private companies.

Bryan Nix, head of the state Hearings Division, which handles contested claims, told the committee there are 11,000 to 12,000 requests a year by workers asking for hearings on their awards or their treatment.

He said that number has been steady, despite the state's rapid growth in population.

Of those 11,000 to 12,000 requests, about 8,000 are resolved within 30 days, he said. Most others are resolved in six to eight months, he said.

Roger Bremner, administrator of the state Division of Industrial Relations, told the committee his staff issued 2,500 "stop work orders" last fiscal year to businesses that were found to have no workers' compensation insurance.

He said 126 businesses were closed because they lacked the insurance. Most of those were about to go out of business anyway, he said.