Early this month, ProPublica/NPR published an article “The Demolition of Workers’ Comp” that asserted that “over the past decade, states have slashed workers’ compensation benefits, denying injured workers help when they need it most and shifting the costs of workplace accidents to taxpayers.” The story has triggered heated response from the workers’ compensation community.

Robert P. Hartwig, Ph.D., CPCU, president of the Insurance Information Institute responded to the criticism of with a letter he sent to ProPublica/NPR that began by saying “it’s necessary that the record be set straight using facts – verifiable, incontrovertible facts – rather than the unsubstantiated assertions, incorrect interpretations and subsequent erroneous conclusions upon which the basic premise of this series is built.”

He goes on to say “The very title … is at best misleading and at worst erroneous. “The Demolition of Workers Comp” is hyperbole of the highest order. The fact of the matter is that workers compensation insurers today provide some $40 billion in benefits annually to hundreds of thousands of injured workers and to the families of those killed on the job – a basic and important fact that is somehow omitted by the authors. Also omitted from the piece is the indisputable fact that the workplace has become safer – much safer – in no small part due to the relentless loss control efforts of insurers and employers in partnership with state and federal government. The incidence rate of fatal occupational injuries plunged by 36 percent over the past two decades and by 90 percent over the past century – precisely coincident with the dawn of modern workers compensation systems.”

He later notes that “Your story asserts that 33 states have “cut” benefits since 2003 through legislation which is characterized as having been passed under the guise of reform. This is far too sweeping of a statement. A system as large as workers compensation, where costs are driven primarily by the same complex factors driving healthcare costs across the United States, is in constant need of monitoring and fine tuning. Many of the changes simply mirror changes in the health care system overall.”

After pointing out other arguments he concludes by saying “Workers compensation, a century after its inception, remains as vital as ever to virtually every worker in the America. Benefits can and do vary from state to state but in no state are workers left without the important safety net that workers compensation provides. Though large, the workers comp system continues to adapt to rapid changes in the workforce, the workplace, the economy and the U.S. health care system. Insurers, employers and workers are united in their agreement that that the safety of workers is paramount and that for those who are injured there is a system that works for their benefit, helping them to achieve maximum medical recovery and return to work as quickly as possible.”

ProPublica/NPR published his letter in its entirety, and then published its rebuttal.

“ProPublica titled its story ‘The Demolition of Workers’ Comp,’ to signify how recent reform laws were dismantling some of the fundamental protections workers’ comp historically provided: The guarantee that workers would receive enough of their wages so they wouldn’t fall into poverty, the promise of the medical care they need to return to as normal a life as possible and the expectation that injured workers would have a voice and be treated with dignity.”

“ProPublica and NPR do not dispute that the workplace has become safer. But the focus of our story was on how changes in workers’ comp laws have affected people who are injured on the job. Workers’ comp is a vital safety net whose costs give employers an incentive to keep their workplaces safe. This is precisely why we felt it was critical to investigate the rollback of benefits by many states.”

“Over the century that workers’ comp has been in effect, workplace injuries have gone both up and down. The decline in fatalities and injuries has multiple causes, including the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), improvements in auto safety and health research, the growth in automation and a changing economy which has reduced jobs in dangerous manufacturing and mining industries and expanded them in the safer service and office sectors.”

The finding that workers’ comp rates have fallen was substantiated by multiple data sources. ProPublica and NPR relied on three separate studies to examine the cost that employers pay for workers’ comp insurance premiums. All three are widely respected and used by the workers’ comp industry, and all three come to the same conclusion: Workers’ comp rates are the lowest they’ve been in decades. The sources, which were included in the graphic, are the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Academy of Social Insurance.