The NY Times published a series of articles that paint a grim picture of Workers’ Compensation fraud and abuse in New York State: everything from exaggerated medical reports of minor back pain to seriously injured workers who find themselves stuck for months. in a Kafkaesque nightmare of delays. . Many injured workers eventually give up fighting and are left without medical care or are forced to pay out of pocket.

But the Times completely overlooked the other victim: the New York businesses and nonprofit organizations that pay Workers’ Compensation bills. Whatever the workers, doctors and insurance companies do, the bosses always lose.

Every time there is a claim, whether the claim is legitimate or fraudulent, the employer is left with inflated reserves that insurance companies set aside to cover costs. And the claims are only a small part of the problem. Between 40% and 60% of employers overcharge their premiums due to “modifications” (experience qualification modifications), miscalculations, and more.

In today’s reformist society, there is an undercurrent of anti-business attitude. So there is little sympathy for corporations. But it’s not just companies that are affected. Many struggling organizations, schools, and hospitals continually lose thousands of dollars due to excessive overpayments. But that’s not on the cover.

Injured workers and shoddy insurance carriers are always the focus of the news. They are more fascinating than the stories of employers paying the bills and overcharging their premiums. Therefore, the Times does not report when we analyze companies’ workers’ compensation insurance premiums and find errors and omissions that lead to large refunds.

But employers who get refunds through Compensation Refund Co. don’t care if their photos don’t appear in the New York Times. They are happy with refunds in the tens of thousands of dollars. Sometimes millions of thousands.

I’d like to see the Times do an investigative report on the state of business in today’s economy. The 2008 reform of the New York State Workers’ Compensation laws brought positive changes to the system. But not enough. As Kenneth Adams, president of the New York State Business Council, told the Times: “New York State, before reform, was one of the most expensive states in the country for workers’ compensation. With these reductions in premiums “The cost of workers’ compensation for most employers has fallen in line with the average for other states. But if you’re in the manufacturing industry, it can still be a significant cost.”

For their part, businesses must get their own stimulus package, by extracting their Workers’ Compensation insurance premium overpayments for refunds. They could find themselves with five or six figure refunds… and save taxpayers billions.