First of all let's get something straight; there was no reform of Workers' Compensation, period! Call it whatever you want, but don't you dare call it a reform!

The word "reform" is defined in many ways; Here are some examples:

1. To improve by alteration, correction of error, or removal of defects; put into a better form or condition.
2. To abolish abuse or malpractice in: reform the government.
3. To put an end to (a wrong).
4. A change for the better; an improvement.

Can you honestly say that what occurred in the legislature in 2004 with Senate Bill 899 meets any of these definitions?

Didn't think you could.

"The Terminator" rode his chartered campaign bus into Sacramento and the rest is, well, an embarrassment of history. That's when Arnold Schwarzenegger started his war on the working man! He ran around town wearing his tony looking "Fix Workers' Comp, Terminate Fraud" jacket, knowing that the very insurance companies that were pandering him for his attention were the very ones causing the majority of the fraud that brings the system to its knees in the first place. This is the legacy of Arnold Schwarzenegger!

He threatened to put an initiative on the ballot to change the system if the legislators didn't pass a bill that his buddy Sen. Chuck Poochigian was pushing on behalf of their insurance buddies.

There were 6 principled legislators who just simply refused to vote for this travesty of justice; On the Assembly side, Hannah Beth Jackson, Loni Hancock (now in the Senate) & Jackie Goldberg; On the Senate side, Richard Alarcon, Joe Dunn & Martha Escutia. We all know how that ended up; introduced in the middle of the night. Had it gone before the voters, it most certainly would have been turned down by a great majority.

He managed to bluff an entire state legislature, many Democrats reluctantly voting for it so that he wouldn’t go messing around in their districts! He conned big business CEO's like Jim Sinegal, the CEO of Costco Warehouse Stores to gather signatures for this abomination. I'll bet you that Costco's Workers Comp rates didn't go down very much afterwards!

Ironically, Workers' Compensation does everything but, compensate the worker for his injuries which in many cases are caused by the gross negligence of his or her employer! But hey, this is a no fault system, right? Or so we are led to believe!

Treating doctors no longer have a say in the treatment of their patients, instead being forced to run their treatment recommendations by insurance company employed Utilization Review doctors who have never seen nor examined these patients. It is a primary reason why so many of these highly qualified physicians are refusing to treat occupationally injured patients anymore!

With the loss of the Vocational Rehabilitation benefit, just precisely how are seriously injured workers going to have any kind of a reasonable chance to rejoin the work force. A job displacement voucher you say? The worse you are injured, the more you get? Now that's total nonsense! But consider the source of those who dreamt that one up! It just plain doesn't work. As a matter of fact, none of the stuff that they dreamt up and have shoved down our throats works worth a damn! It never was supposed to!

California Workers' Compensation has morphed into "Mother May I" medical care.

Mother, may I have some physical therapy for my injuries?
No you've had enough already.....

Mother may I have the surgery that will make me a whole person once again?
No it costs too much.....

Mother may I have a power chair so that I can get around my house?
No our utilization review doctors who have never met nor examined you don't feel that it will help you!

If a legislator or anyone else in the upper levels of government are injured in the course of their employment, they are handled with kid gloves by the State Compensation Insurance Fund and pretty much given what they need to return to the work force. Why? Well when legislation comes up that makes it more profitable for the insurance companies, they want them on their side. You and I are treated in a whole different way.

Is it time to regulate this line of insurance, the only type that is unregulated in this state? Former Senator Richard Alarcon tried when he was chair of the Senate Labor & Industrial Relations committee, but to no avail. The insurance industry lobbying money did all the talking!

Look at Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett who had Schwarzenegger's ear during the transition. He now has multiple insurance companies doing a land office business in California's unregulated Workers' Comp market. It kind of makes you ask yourself just where did he get all that money to buy the rest of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad that he didn't already own!

It's time to take the system back! We have the opportunity to put someone in the Governor's office who will put their constituents first for a change! After all that's who he or she works for. Workers' Comp is supposed to be about people, or so they say.....