Workers Compensation Vote – Obama or Romney
Workers Compensation – would a vote for Obama or Romney be a vote for our industry? Well, we are finally here. I will miss the droning on off all the commercials. I live a battleground state so they airwaves and internet were flooded with so many irritating advertisements.
In my humble opinion, there will be no difference if Obama retains or Romney acquires the Presidency. The main races that will heavily affect your Workers Compensation rates, laws, etc. are in the state races.
Workers Comp is a very individualized insurance offering. We can see that phenomenon when we compare , for example, California to Nevada or Oklahoma to Texas. One size does not fit all. I think that Workers Comp could be regionalized across zones of a type, but not across the United States.
I coined the term – and it has been copied by other bloggers – on the Federalization of Workers Compensation. I had thought that the current administration would march over the top of WC and make it a federal program. That was not necessarily an error on my part.
Obamacare does not directly affect the Workers Comp industry. However, what was a wide river to cross is now a small stream. In my opinion, 24 hour healthcare (including Workers Compensation) could be easily attained by using the AFLAC model with some type of partial payment by the employee and a subsidy by the employer.
Often I am asked by many investing companies on consultations what would be the unknown factor that could cause Workers Comp market to change. I think it COULD be the healthcare companies absorbing the Workers Comp market.
I am often asked as to why this would happen. As well all know, the healthcare companies will now be limited as to profit in the health insurance market, but not Workers Comp or even the Property & Casualty markets.
I am still under the impression that your State Senate, House, and Governors’ races will be the ones that will map out the Workers comp markets in the future. That is why I recommend looking into the candidates’ prior voting records on any bills that involved any type of insurance matter.
The bottom line is that whether President Obama or Governor Romney wins the election will not matter to Workers Comp except possibly to a very small degree. Your local state races will make the difference.
I have consulted on all states Workers Comp in the nation. Each state is unto itself on Workers Compensation. The one word to watch out for is reform as most of the time this means a major change to how you will do business in the WC industry.
Even though Workers Comp is the silent budget buster, for some reason it does not draw enough attention. On the Federal level, that may be a blessing in disguise.
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