Re: pain relief

In Reply to: Re: pain relief posted by Evelyn on December 31, 2003 at 11:04:07:

Hey Evelyn,

I'm a Canadian and as such know little of the 'systems' elsewhere. We've got a "Workplace Safety and Insurance Board" in my province. It used to be called the "Worker's Compensation Board" but a few years back the government made some changes, presumably to remove pesky "workers" and inconvenient "compensation" from the equation. ;)

The Canadian model, in the vast majority of cases, removes the workers right to sue the employer. Instead, if your claim is recognized (and you adhere closely to WSIB requirements) the "board" compensates you for wages lost, medical treatment, long term disability issues, etc., using money derived from employer premiums.

In theory the system is fair and equitable (just as communism sounds pretty fair on paper). In practice though, the system often seems agressively focused on "fraud prevention", so if you make a mistake on a form or miss a treatment appointment or otherwise draw attention to yourself it can become an uphill battle to "prove" that you're claim is "legitimate".

For me? Pretty fair experience to date. Pretty detailed notes, too. :)

Adam.

: Hi Adam
: We don't have a health/WC system in the UK like the US does. All the treatment e.g. surgery, physio etc. is free of charge. We pay National Insurance Contributions all our working lives to pay for it. When you get something like CTS you just go along to your GP who will refer you to a surgeon if necessary & there's no visits to doctors to ascertain treatment, disability ratings etc. etc.

: If your condition is work-related, you can either go through a union solicitor or one of your own & put in an industrial injury claim. Over here people tend to just get the surgery & go back to work a few weeks later (at least the ones I know have done that) & that's the end of the matter.
: Evelyn