Worker compensation isn't working in state

Nevada's workers' compensation system has offered dramatically inadequate coverage to injured workers since the laws were changed by the Legislature in 1993. As a result of testimony from the State Industrial Insurance System, many Nevada workers lost benefits.

The revised laws have generated profits for insurers and employers largely at the expense of injured workers. In Nevada, we have made it nearly impossible to have a workers compensation claim for depression, anxiety, panic or stress.

Nevada's stress law is among the toughest in the nation. I believe that the stress law may be in conflict with the intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which recognizes both physical and mental disabilities. Workers' compensation laws were intended to be fair for both the employer and the employee.

Since 1993, Nevada's laws have not been fair. It is time for the Legislature to revisit Nevada's stress law and Nevada's vocational rehabilitation laws. It is time for the Committee on Workers' Compensation to revisit many of Nevada's laws. Our laws should be amended so that workers are provided adequate medical and rehabilitation benefits.

I was employed as the chief compliance/audit investigator for the southern region of the Industrial Insurance Regulation Section in 1993. I am recently retired after 22 years with the state.