Workers Comp Problem – US Health Index Shines Glaring Light
A probable workers comp problem uncovered this week. Sometimes you come across articles and numbers by accident. This happened to me over the last weekend. One of my web browsers (Opera) highlighted a few articles based on my recent searches. I clicked on the article and found a few startling facts about the level of health in the US that I inferred to possibly be a Workers Comp problem.
If you look down the page at these two graphics, you will see what could be a workers comp problem area. The US ranks 35th in the world regarding the level of health we maintain for ourselves. What??? The US was so far down on the page that I could not fit all the rankings in this article.
How I Made the Connection
In the world of workers comp, you get the injured employee as you hire them – preexisting conditions and the employee’s mindset. If we rank 35th for 2023 (post pandemic) then PREEXISTING should be capitalized and in bold letters.
Every workers comp worker, especially claims adjusters, have heard the term “aggravation of a preexisting condition.” If the US ranks at 35th, that tallies at a huge number of preexisting conditions that can be aggravated = workers comp problem.
For reference, the US is ranked lower than many third world countries. See the chart on this webpage.
Yes the US looks like this –
Wow! I said wait, let’s break that down further. We need to regionalize that number. Looking at the comparison of the Americas –
The US is 5th behind Mexico,Canada, Ecuador, and Argentina. You can check with Numbeo to see how it calculates the numbers. They even give out the algorithm used = transparency.
Hiring Can Result in Workers Comp Problem
I would never discourage hiring anyone with a known preexisting condition. Judging from the above charts, one can see the unknown conditions amplifying the risks, not the known ones.
Do these numbers portend a future problem? One would have to say the workers comp problem exists today and will in the future.
