Controller: City dishes out $11 million more in workers' comp claims
The city has paid nearly $54 million for workers' comp claims for fiscal year 2011 -- a 26 percent increase from what the city paid five years ago, according to a report by City Controller Alan Butkovitz.
Controller: City dishes out $11 million more in workers' comp claims
The city has paid nearly $54 million for workers' comp claims for fiscal year 2011 -- a 26 percent increase from what the city paid five years ago, according to a report by City Controller Alan Butkovitz.
The report cites concerns pertaining to excessive use of physical therapy in which costs have jumped by 25 percent to $4.4 million. In 49 of the 165 claims tested workers made 30 or more visits to physical therapy which in some cases were up to 15 months beyond the date of injury. Butkovitz said this was "well beyond the average three-month standard regimen after which a physical therapist will release a patient from physical therapy."
He said that leads to higher medical expenses and allows workers to collect benefits under the Workers' Compensation Program for a much longer period of time.
The report also revealed that some city workers have a history of filing several workers' comp claims including 386 who have filed 11 or more claims and 2,203 workers that filed five to ten claims during their employment.
Butkovitz said there needs to be better management of the use of physical therapy and perhaps better training for those workers that are constantly injured on the job.
The gravy train that just keeps on going. "386 who have filed 11 or more claims and 2,203 workers that filed five to ten claims during their employment" Stagerring statistics anywhere else but business as usual here. Stop the bleeding!
- Agreed. Perhaps Knudsen, whom Mayor Nutter appointed to 'collect' taxes and get the incoming revenue stream sorted out, should also have in his portfolio stopping the bleeding at the 'gimmee trough' that is the city workers compensation culture in Philadelphia?
Wow. Time to look at 'best practices' and wonder in every department how a stubbed toe can result in $1M claim from the city. Ya think?— 24sDad - Once again, Butkovitz gets facetime AFTER the fact. He's the CONTROLLER! He should be stopping this stuff BEFORE it happens not let it happen and then use the press for political gain.— Themonkofmagdalena
- Didn't anyone in the controllers office read of the massive disability scams all over the nation?
Help those in need of course but stop all the scams and freeloading all over in PHA, in workers comp and all the rest. It must stop; no city can afford all the scams that causes it to then raise taxes to pay for. Stop.
Is anyone in government anywhere responsible for anything they do?— GAC - "There's got to be better management", now that takes the cake. This is 2013 and if we can't get better mgt. in these times, where does it come from, Detroit.— Frank J Graff
- There is a culture of disability scamming in AFSCME.
So about 1 in 10 city workers has filed 5-10 disability claims?
Half these people "work" in an office. Complete slugs.— PhillyNetTaxPayer
Follow Chris on Twitter
David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
Follow Dave on Twitter.
Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
Follow Jan on Twitter
Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
Follow Sean on Twitter
