Author: H. Allan Hunt

Publisher: W. E. Upjohn Institute

Published: 1982

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13:

The Michigan Closed Case Survey examined workers' compensation cases that were closed in the fall of 1978. Specific objectives of the study were to compare the workers' compensation experience of the insured and self-insured employer populations, to provide an empirical description of the workers' compensation system in Michigan, and to determine the role of litigation in the system. Based on abstracts of 954 unlitigated and 1,224 litigated workers' compensation cases, researchers drew the following conclusions: (1) while 48 percent of cases from employees of the big three automakers are litigated, other self-insured employers and insured employers experience 19 and 22 percent litigation rates respectively; (2) the litigation process generally results in more lump sum payments; (3) the big three automakers and the insured employers have similar average disability durations, whereas other self-insured employers enjoy average durations that are 30 percent lower; and (4) only 20 percent of beneficiaries actually received the two-thirds gross replacement rate specified by law. Because Michigan's workers' compensation litigation system seems to have grown into a miniature replica of the tort liability system it was supposed to replace, a general overhaul of the litigation system is urged. (MN)