1. In California, medical care costs for back injuries are 43percent higher when part of a workers’ compensation claim than whenpart of a group medical insurance plan. Critics of workers’compensation claim that this difference can be attributed to abuseof the system by both injured employees and their physicians.Proponents of workers’ compensation argue that the higher costsindicate exactly the opposite: that is, under workers’compensation, injured employees are receiving more and better(hence more costly) medical care. They claim that group medicalplans are shortchanging employees by allowing insurance companiesto make medical decisions. What is your opinion?
2. Following an order from his supervisor, a carpenter workingfor Jones Construction Company removed all the guardrails fromstairwell openings, floor openings, and open-sided stairs.Uncomfortable with this action, the carpenter telephoned his unionrepresentative, who, in turn, called OSHA. Jones ConstructionCompany was fined $15,000 for willful violations. JonesConstruction Company, in turn, fired the carpenter. Was the firinglawful (under OSHA standards)? Was the action of the carpenterappropriate (under OSHA standards)?
