Business Groups Push Workers’ Comp Redo

Business Groups Push Workers’ Comp Redo

By SHERRI CRUZ

Gary Hernandez’s family-run business has had few workers’ compensation claims and his risk rate has declined. But this year his premiums have gone up,by at least $40,000.






“It’s killing us,” he said.






Hernandez is the administrator for Country Club Convalescent Hospital, a 54-bed facility in Santa Ana Heights.






Unlike other businesses that can reduce costs by cutting workers, his is required to keep an employee-to-patient ratio, so he has had to raise his rates and scramble to eliminate costs elsewhere.






Something has to change, he said.






“It’s getting to the point where you can’t run a business anymore,” he said.






That scenario is playing out throughout Orange County and the state. And if major reform of workers’ compensation insurance doesn’t happen this year, more companies say they will be forced to flee the state or lay off workers. Smaller businesses say they might have to close.






“Employers are really ticked off,” said Charles Bacchi, lobbyist for the Sacramento-based California Chamber of Commerce.






Gov. Gray Davis has endorsed legislation to address some of the problems with the system. But the chamber, the Sacramento-based California Manufacturers