Pennsylvania House of Representatives Passes Attack on Workers' Compensation, Says Pennsylvania AFL-CIO

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Monday evening, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted to reconsider Senate Bill 936 and subsequently passed the piece of legislation attacking injured workers and the workers' compensation system by a vote of 101 to 92.  

"The Workers' Compensation system is a bargain between Pennsylvania's working people and the Commonwealth, where employers and the state ensure that injured workers are fairly compensated and receive appropriate medical treatment and workers relinquish their right to sue if injured on the job.  This agreement is crucial to the health and well-being of workers across the state and their families.  In passing Senate Bill 936, the PA House has jeopardized medical treatment and made it easier to deny coverage to injured workers in a shameful attempt to line the pockets of insurance companies," stated President Rick Bloomingdale.

"This vote is a betrayal of Pennsylvania's working people and a direct attack on the health and recovery of working people who are injured or become ill on the job.  Health insurance corporations shamefully claimed that this bill is a solution to the opioid epidemic when it is nothing of the sort.  This legislation prioritizes cheap drugs over the doctor-patient relationship.  Opioid medications are one of the cheapest forms of pain management, and instituting this drug formulary may increase their usage.  We need to curtail opioid usage, not incentivize it," emphasized Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder.

SOURCE Pennsylvania AFL-CIO