The Lack of Correspondence Between Work-Related Disability and Receipt of Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Abstract

This paper reviews previous studies examining receipt of workers’ compensation benefits and data from surveys of people with disabilities. The evidence shows that a very substantial proportion of persons with work-related disabilities do not receive workers’ compensation benefits. The obstacles to compensation include the definitional structure of workers’ compensation statutes, barriers that discourage workers from filing legitimate claims, increasingly restrictive rules for compensability and higher procedural hurdles that have evolved in recent years in many state workers’ compensation programs. The solutions to this problem, such as providing healthcare to workers regardless of the source of injuries or diseases, are complicated and controversial.