Reading Room

Significant progress has been made by the NJ Division of Workers’ Compensation (NJ-DWC) in carrying out the legislative mandate for the newly enacted emergent medical care motion practice. 

The current workers' compensation system faces soaring medical costs and an expanding perimeter of liability for bioterrorism.

The Social Security/Medicare program had its genesis in President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" policies. During the succeeding Democratic administrations of Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson, it was developed into the "Great Society" approach, providing a social insurance program intended to operate not as welfare but as earned benefits. With the increasing focus on promptly providing necessary medical treatment to citizens, the Federal government's role of providing conditional payments has expanded at a tremendous cost.

The New Jersey Supreme Court, struggling to maintain the remedial social aspects of the Workers’ Compensation Act, adopted a liberal “quantification of disability” rule to determine the Statute of Limitations date to be utilized in occupational disease claims.

The fundamental aspects of the Workers' Compensation Act. Issues concerning the coming and going rule, mental stress, legal malpractice, judicial salaries, the exclusivity bar of the Workers' Compensation Act, medical expenses, liens, cancellation of insurance, overpayments, job security,] and the admissibility of expert testimony became the focus of judicial decisions.