Workers Compensation

The statutory no fault system paying medical care and wage replacement for employees injured at work.

Overview

In exchange for giving up the right to sue the employer, employees receive medical care, indemnity payments, and disability benefits, a bargain from the early 1900s now near universal in the United States. Employers buy policies from private carriers or state funds or self insure if allowed, with premiums per 100 dollars of payroll by job classification, modulated by experience ratings reflecting own loss history. Texas is the sole state where coverage is optional for most private employers. Claims carry indemnity and medical components, fraud units police both sides, and occupational disease such as silica exposure extends the tail. Employers liability, part B, covers suits outside the exclusive remedy. Return to work programs cut claim costs most.