There are significant differences:

Hyper-regulated, government-run workers’ compensation programs can cost a state tens of millions of taxpayer dollars every year to operate and the programs often struggle with efficiency and effectiveness.

There is a need for more employer engagement, more employee accountability and more insurance market competition. A Texas injury benefit program operates beneath an umbrella of state and federal employee protections, similar to what workers’ compensation delivers.

Workers’ compensation systems frequently tell workers nothing about their rights or responsibilities until after they are injured, at which point workers find that their right to sue has been revoked.

Workers’ compensation frequently supports delays in injury reporting and delays in medical treatment. Injured workers bear very little personal responsibility for their care and recovery. Too often, injured workers are engaged in a system that they don’t understand and are vulnerable to less than ethical medical practitioners eager to resort to surgery and narcotics.

Seriously injured workers commonly have no choice but to hire a lawyer to navigate a highly complex workers’ compensation maze. Those lawyers then explain fundamental rights to an employee and family members, in a time of crisis, in exchange for a big cut of the payments.;In contrast, Texas injury benefit programs are about better “customer” service. All Texas injury benefit program requirements must – by law – be fully communicated to workers, in language they can understand, before an injury occurs. Employers are then allowed to further communicate and support the injured worker’s needs when an injury occurs by gaining faster access to the best medical providers (many of whom will not accept workers’ compensation claimants due to bureaucratic hassles and low-fee payments).

Texas injury benefit programs support more continuous medical care and earlier return to work. Texas injury benefit programs require workers to follow the direction of treating medical providers.

As a result, Texas injury benefits programs result in fewer tragic cases for injured workers and their families, as described further below.