William Zachry is a senior fellow at the Sedgwick Institute and is former group vice president for risk management for Albertson’s Companies. According to his commentary published in the East Bay Times, things have gotten much better in California Workers’ Compensation. Here are his comments.

California’s system is as maligned as any in the nation. A $26 billion behemoth, the rap on California’s system is that it overcharges employers and short-changes workers, with the difference ending up in the pockets of scurrilous medical providers and other ne’er-do-well vendors.

Such criticisms are frequently based on cases that fall outside of the typical claims experience. These cases drive news coverage, which spawn legislative proposals to “fix” the system.

But beneath the headlines, facts show that California’s system has improved by many measures.

— Higher benefits. In 2012, lawmakers increased injured worker disability benefits by $1 billion, using money squeezed out of system inefficiencies and cracking down on fraud. A review by the Department of Industrial Relations shows that benefits have increased by 30 percent.
— Stable insurance rates. California remains the most expensive state in the nation. But reforms have halted the wild swings that took employers for a ride every few years. Compared to 2001-2009, when rates shot up 80 percent and then fell by 67 percent, rates have moved up and down by 5 percent or less over the past four years.
— Fewer claims. Between 2010 and 2014, workers’ comp claims were increasing in California while decreasing in other states, driven largely by injury claims in Los Angeles. In 2015, claim filings started to decrease again, consistent with national trends and California’s own decades-long decline in workplace injuries.
— Quicker claims closure. All data and workers’ comp wisdom says the system is at its best when workers get treated, paid and back to work. Shorter claim life improves an injured worker’s chance of making a full recovery, both physically and economically. Since 2009, California’s rate of claims closed within three years has increased from 55 percent to 60 percent.
— Ousted Medical Fraudsters. In 2016, lawmakers empowered the Department of Industrial Relations to suspend medical providers who have been indicted or convicted of medical fraud, yet continue to treat injured workers and submit payment demands known as “liens.” Thus far, the DIR has halted $1 billion worth of these liens and suspended 23 fraudulent medical providers.
— Evidence-based medicine. Since the early 2000s, California has worked to adopt medical treatment guidelines for injured workers that are based on published medical evidence. Although criticized as “cookbook medicine” and criticized as an impediment to care, research shows that today 95 percent of all medical treatment requests are approved through “utilization review.” Just 4 percent are properly denied because they aren’t supported by medical evidence. That’s a 99 percent success rate for evidence-based care.
— Lower medical costs. Squeezing inappropriate and fraudulent care out of the system has halted huge spikes in California’s workers’ comp medical inflation. After a five-fold increase since 1990, average medical costs per claim have decreased by 10 percent since 2011.

Does California’s system still have problems? Absolutely.

California’s system is still the most expensive. We have more claims that result in a partial permanent disability award than any other state in the nation. We also have a new species of fraud which has to be stamped out. Our claims are more expensive and involve more litigation than elsewhere. We spend a disproportionate amount on expenses to deliver benefits to injured workers. And our claims drag on too long.

On balance, however, Mr. Zachary concludes that California’s workers’ compensation system is as healthy and stable as any time in recent history.