Death Benefits Going To Insurance Companies

The Houston Chronicle recently completed an analysis of where state Worker's Comp death benefits are going, and the results are rather shocking. It seems that recently over $17 million of these benefits were paid to insurance companies rather than to the families of the stricken workers.

This is because of the way our state law covering the death benefits was written. It should come as no surprise that our Republican -controlled legislature would favor insurance companies over the relatives of the dead (after all, that's where the big campaign donations come from). But it is still wrong.

The law says the benefit (around $100,000) can only go to spouses and minor-age children. If there is no spouse or minor children, then the money is paid into a fund to help reimburse insurance companies for cases they lose on appeal. Parents and older children are not allowed to benefit.

In order for parents or older children to benefit, they must prove that they derived their support from the deceased worker. Of course, going to court to prove this would probably eat up most or all of the benefit, making such action a moot point.

Again I say, this is just wrong. An insurance company should not be reimbursed for losing a case on appeal. If they lose the case, then that means they are supposed to pay the benefits. They should not be entitled to any compensation for benefits they are legally required to pay. Isn't payment for legal benefits the service they are selling?

This law needs to be re-written. If there is not a spouse or minor children, then the death benefit should be paid to the older children and/or the parents. We must get our priorities straight.