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Originally Posted by wowitsdark  I guess I am cut from an entirely different cloth. I picture a para sitting at a table with little chairs grading papers with matching words and shapes or perhaps making copies of coloring pages or setting up a display of books with sight words.
We're not talking about somebody in a high-stakes job. The chance of injury isn't quite up there with someone working on an offshore drilling rig.
Babysitters don't have some 'big brother' covering them for job injuries. Nor do most of the small business owners clear across America who are keeping things running for many of us. When I am in my own kitchen chopping a tomato with a sharp knife I am about 100x more at risk than while sitting in a kindergarten room where there don't even happen to be students present.
I think we're becoming pansies, needing 'protection' from goofy non-existent 'threats.' I assume the paras have health insurance. If so... they're covered in case of an injury! They might not have big brother waiting to pick up the tab for the deductible if they get a hangnail while grading papers and need to rush to the ER... but I just think all this 'need' for protection is overblown in this instance. |
sadly, you are mistaken.
If a person shows up at a medical facility for treatment, and it's mentioned that it is possibly work related, private insurance will deny care and treatment.
As far as the risks or need for protection: There are a lot of questionable work comp and personal injury claims. AND....some states allow for mental/medical or mental/mental (AKA "stress" claims), also there are occupational disease claims (overuse syndrome, carpal tunnel, epicondylitis, etc.) which occur over a period of time. These claims are iffy at best, but, if it can be proven or shown that they were "off the clock" they are NOT covered. If a worker (who isn't a salaried employee) stays "late" working off of the clock (not in the usual course and scope of their job duties) then they will not be covered should they slip and fall in the hall, fall down the stairs, or assaulted while walking to their car (and yes, by and large, employees are generally covered in these instances if they are in the usual course and scope of their employment duties)---and if they seek medical treatment, their private insurance can and will deny as being "work related" injury. Thus, it's a catch 22. Furthermore, IF a person is injured and can't file a work comp claim or private insurance claim, their only recourse is to file a personal injury claim. Personal injury claims get messy and expensive. With private insurance and/or work comp, there is a bit of control that can be exerted on costs--and there is no "pain and suffering" w/ private insurance or work comp.
Personally? I think a lot of people are woefully ignorant regarding how work comp, personal injury, and/or private insurance works. Get educated!