Bring the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act into the 21st Century

Background:

• The Longshore Act provides medical and physical rehabilitation benefits and compensation for lost wages to covered employees for work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths. In 1927, Congress passed the Act to guarantee workers’ compensation coverage for workers employed over navigable waters. For eight decades, the Act has covered employees in the longshore, marine terminal, shipbuilding and maritime construction industries, providing coverage to more than 500,000 U.S. workers.
• On a per claim basis, the Longshore Act is our nation’s most expensive workers’ compensation program and costs continue to rise. According to the National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. (NCCI), the average total cost for a Longshore claim rose 72 percent from 1993 to 2002. Furthermore, private sector employers paid $595 million of claims in calendar year 2004.
• Congress last amended the Act in 1984. Since then, most states have comprehensively updated their workers’ compensation laws. For example, unlike the Longshore Act, most states have disability management practices that promise injured workers better medical treatment while encouraging return to work and controlling unnecessary medical and disability costs.
• Timely and effective treatment brings workers and employees benefits back to full strength. The longer workers are on disability, studies show, the less likely they are to return to work. Injured workers can also be affected by disruptions in family life and restrictions from pleasurable activities such as hobbies or sports. Employer costs go beyond the workers’ compensation tab. Productivity declines strain all workers left on the job, even if other employees work overtime or a temporary worker fills in, resulting in lost opportunities.
• Employees and employers alike suffer from the unnecessary administrative burdens that plague the system. And the cost of the Longshore Act continues to rise faster than state workers’ compensation programs. This cost ultimately affects businesses and employees dependent on international trade.

AGC Recommendations:

• Improve injured worker access to high-quality medical treatment that boosts employee health and is more affordable to employers.
• Improve program administration and streamline claim adjudication.
• Strengthen return-to-work incentives and improve payment equity of post-injury wage replacement, survivor and funeral benefits.
• Ensure claims are for work-related injuries or illnesses only.
• Eliminate “double dipping” – the filing of claims in state and federal workers’ compensation programs for the same injury.
• Discourage cost-shifting among employers in cases involving subsequent injuries and change the assessment for the Special Fund for second injuries used to subsidize these claims.
• Strengthen fraud protections.
• Reinforce exclusive remedy – that employers responsible for longshore benefits are protected against additional liability for the same injury.

AGC Supported Legislation:

• S. 846 - The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act Amendments of 2007
  Mar. 12, 2007 - Introduced