Governor Pat McCrory

According to N.C. Governor Pat McCrory, workers’’ compensation claims cause the state to spend about $150 million per year. He claims that research by CorVel, the state’s administrator for state employee claims, shows that roughly 40% of the workers’’ compensation claims are related to abuse or fraud.

When attorneys, professors, and state employee representatives questioned this number, State Personnel Director Neal Alexander and McCrory spokesman Josh Ellis were unable to provide any statistical support for this claim.

It is uncertain why the Governor would make a serious allegation of this nature without the numbers to back it up, but if the goal is to cut fraud and abuse in the system he may want to start with evaluating why so many employers are “gaming” the system by misclassifying their employees as independent contractors, and not providing any workers’’ compensation coverage at all. Taxpayers often end up footing the medical bills for disabled employees because the state has no uninsured fund.

An investigation by The News & Observer newspaper revealed last year that N.C. was losing approximately $467 million a year in lost tax revenue because of employer misclassification. That is real and tangible fraud, and legislation is needed to give state agencies the tools to go after these cheaters. 

For more information please read this article on WRAL by Mark Binker and Cullen Browder.