Workers' Comp Reform Is Working in Oklahoma

Three years ago, a fundamental shift occurred in the Oklahoma business community due to the work of the Legislature and the governor passing Senate Bill 1062. This bill created a new way to resolve the claims filed by injured workers, and in doing so eliminated the No. 1 inhibitor of job creation.

In 2013, Oklahoma employers paid more than $1 billion for a workers' comp system that kept injured workers away from work so long, many were not able to return. Recruitment of manufacturing plants declined because companies knew the old workers' comp system was bad for their business. Our outcomes were on pace with systems we don't want to emulate, like California and New York. This was a problem for businesses and the workers they employed. This gap between rising costs and worsening outcomes kept many businesses from expanding and forced some of them out of business. Realizing that costs continued to climb while the system provided negative outcomes for all parties allowed us to shift away from the broken court system of the past.

Since that time, much has been written and many attacks have been lodged against the reforms. This pushback has been based on horror stories about a few cases gone awry, but as a wise newspaper reporter once told me, “the plural of anecdote is not data.” However, these isolated stories don't reflect the data, which shows that the workers' comp reforms are working.

Under the new system, we are seeing fewer claims, lower costs and faster resolutions. Since the reforms took effect, we have seen total premiums drop more than $168 million. These savings allow employers to expand the number of workers, or in tough economic times, protect the jobs of current employees.

Now is not the time to let our foot off the gas. We need to ensure we uphold these important reforms and keep fighting against trial lawyers looking to build their own retirement at the cost of injured workers. Every dollar an employer spends on a broken system is a dollar they can't invest in providing jobs for Oklahoma families. We're grateful for the success we have seen and continue to fight on the behalf of businesses and working families in our state.

Op-ed by Jonathan Buxton, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, published in The Oklahoman on March 8, 2017