GILLETTE - Kevin Cowley felt a pop in his back as he carried a bag of mud up a flight of stairs. His doctor said the injury required surgery, but during pre-operative screening doctors found another condition not related to the workplace injury. Cowley was told the condition would have to be addressed before doctors could proceed with surgery for his injury.

That's when Cowley started having problems with his Wyoming Workers' Compensation claim. The 20-year veteran of the drywall business didn't have the money to take care of his non-work-related condition. In the eyes of the compensation division, Cowley refused treatment.

As a result, the division cut off his supplemental wage benefits in February, said Cowley, and he's waiting for a hearing scheduled in February 2009 to fight the decision.

"I can't get operated on. I just don't know what to do," said Cowley, who has already been forced to enroll in the food stamp program. "It's the lowest I've ever been in my life. If I didn't have family and friends here I'd be living on the street."

Cowley was among about a dozen people who attended a workers' advocate forum here Wednesday to discuss problems and possible solutions regarding the state's workers' compensation program.

"They're actually going to pay more money for you, Kevin, by feeding you drugs," Wyoming AFL-CIO executive secretary Kim Floyd said during the forum. Floyd addressed the audience: "They'd rather the government pay him food stamps, but they won't fix his condition to bring him back into the workforce, and it's a crime."

Worker advocates at the Wyoming AFL-CIO, Equality State Policy Center and Wyoming Trial Lawyers' Association said they had received an alarming increase in the number of complaints about Wyoming's workers' compensation program in recent years. Late last year, the Wyoming Workers' Compensation director reported to legislators that the program had amassed a reserve of nearly $1 billion, which inspired proposals to pay rebates to employers who fund the program.

"I knew there was something drastically wrong," said Floyd.

The groups began presenting lawmakers with testimony from dozens of Wyoming workers who have experienced troubles with the system. They were successful in defeating the rebate legislation in the 2008 Legislature. The lobbying effort also resulted in an interim legislative study.

Today, the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee will meet in Casper to mull over several proposed bills aimed at improving services to injured workers.

So far, the legislation includes measures to increase the death benefit and increase wage compensation benefits for injured workers while they recover as well as disability benefits for those who cannot return to work. Another proposed bill would create a position for a ombudsman, or advocate for injured workers trying to find their way through the program.

Another bill addresses mental injuries. Currently, the workers' compensation statutes require that a compensatory mental injury must be the direct result of work-related physical injury. In one high-profile case, a Wyoming firefighter was refused benefits for the post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered after he watched a fellow firefighter die on the job.

Larry Clapp, Casper attorney and president of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers' Association, said he's pleased so far with the response from legislators, and particularly the joint labor committee. He said workers' compensation is a complex program dealing with very complex issues.

"The openness of that committee and items they are considering are big. They ought to be commended," Clapp said at the Gillette forum on Wednesday.

Yet there's little expectation that all of the concerns regarding workers' compensation can be addressed in a single legislative session. In fact, many complaints have been leveled at the agency's bedside manners, and those are administrative matters that lie within the state's executive branch.

Allegations leveled at the agency include baseless denial of claims many of which are ultimately found to be compensatory. The division is accused of "doctor-shopping" for desired diagnosis, and even outright intimidation by claims analysts.

"There have been more and more procedural hurdles put in place that make (workers' compensation) a trap for unwary employees. Employees are supposed to know the law, and if you screw up there's not much compassion among the decision-makers in Cheyenne," said Wyoming attorney Mike Newman. "It's become a huge bureaucratic thiefdom."

Steve Czoschke became director of the Wyoming Workers' Compensation division last spring. He said his predecessor, Gary Child, addressed such accusations earlier this year when the Star-Tribune published a weeklong series on workers' compensation issues.

Child had said he cannot counter specific accusations because state law prevents him from discussing details of individual cases. He rejected notions that his agency engages in any such harassment, and insists most workers who file a claim are satisfied with the program.

"It is subject to a high degree of criticism, whether objective or subjective," Child told the Star-Tribune. "I firmly believe the division is providing an array of medical and indemnity services to the in red workers, and in an equitable and consistent manner."

Czoschke said he will not be advocating for or against any proposed legislation before the labor committee this week.

"They are a draft and they are a good starting point," Czoschke said. "There's still uncertainty with what bills will go forward."

Czoschke said an actuary hired by the division will provide a report to legislators on Monday regarding the program's finances.

Contact Dustin Bleizeffer at 307-577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffer@trib.com

**BREAKOUT**

The Trade-Off

Employers who have struggled to find enough skilled workers in recent years have testified that Wyoming's economy is tied to its blue-collar workforce. When there's an injury on the job, any member of that work force becomes reliant on the state's workers' compensation system.

The reason is that employers in Wyoming are immune from lawsuits by employees - even in cases when the employer is proven to be grossly negligent in a workplace accident. That means injured workers, in most cases, have nowhere else to turn for help but the workers' compensation program.

Taking away the worker's right to sue in exchange for a no-fault compensation program was the "compromise" that created the Wyoming Workmen's Compensation Law in 1915. But worker advocates say the compromise is only honored when workers are truly compensated for their workplace injuries and lost ability to earn an income.

"It's working for employers, but it's not working for seriously injured employees," said Casper attorney Hampton Young. "If workers could sue employers for negligence, they would be getting very large awards. So workers are giving everything up, and employers aren't giving up anything."

- Dustin Bleizeffer

**BREAKOUT**

Committee members

The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee is conducting a comprehensive study of the Wyoming Workers' Compensation program. Here are the members of that committee:

Rep. Jack Landon, Lr., R-Sheridan, 672-8431, jlandonhouse.wyoming.com

Rep. Ken Esquibel, D-Cheyenne, 630-6096, kesquibelwyoming.com.

Rep. Mary Hales, D-Casper, 234-4092, mary.halesrealestateincasper.com

Rep. Timothy Hallinan, R-Gillette, 682-0936, tphallinanbresnan.net

Rep. Elaine Harvey, R-Lovell, 548-7866, harvey00tctwest.net

Rep. Jerry Iekel, R-Sheridan, 674-6407, jiekelhouse.wyoming.com

Rep. Thomas Lubnau, II, R-Gillette, 682-1313, tlubnauvcn.com

Rep. Lori Millin, D-Cheyenne, 635-3670, lorimillinbresnan.net

Rep. William 'Jeb' Steward, R-Encampment, 327-5116, jebstewardunion-tel.com

Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, 473-2512, charlesscottwyoming.com

Sen. Pat Aullman, R-Thayne, 883-0175, paullmanwyoming.com

Sen. Bob Fecht, R-Cheyenne, 634-5219, bobrobertfecht.com

Sen. John Hastert, D-Green River, 875-6967, jhastert2wyoming.com

Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, blandenbresnan.net