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As questions concerning healthcare reform continue to surface, insurance companies are under fire for alleged
exploitation and corruption. Now, an Owensboro woman is headed to Kentucky's capital to speak on behalf of those
struggling with Workers' Compensation insurance.
Carol Roberts became disabled in the mid-eighties because of injuries sustained while working at UPS. In 1986 her doctor
prescribed her a wheelchair, but it wasn't until 2002 when she personally took her insurance company, Liberty Mutual,
to court, that she got the wheelchair.
Roberts says, Liberty Mutual (whose representatives declined to comment on this matter), and other insurance companies
regularly abuse injured workers because they know workers can't get adequate legal representation for cost disputes.
Roberts has been invited to Frankfort by Kentucky senator Alice Kerr, co-chair of the joint committee of Labor and
Industry. Roberts will testify because she and some members of the committee believe there should be a bill requiring
injured workers have the benefit of an attorney no matter what even if that means the state pays the lawyer.
Roberts says, when she goes before the committee she is representing every worker abused by insurance companies. She says
though she has spent years of her life imprisoned in her house, it doesn't have to be that way for others.
Another issue the joint committee of Labor and Industry will look into is helping disabled workers cope with rising cost
of living.
To contact Carol Roberts about what you can do for her upcoming "Stand by Me" campaign geared toward raising awareness
about this issue her email address is: cherokeetallwm@aol.com.
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Sarah Lovett