Governor Schwarzenegger should sign a bill that prohibits workers’ compensation insurance companies from discriminating against people based on their race, age, sex or genetics. You’d think that was already the law, but (as I wrote in the spring) insurers have been using workers’ personal characteristics – like the fact that women are more prone to getting carpal tunnel syndrome, or older people are more likely to have hypertension – to reduce or deny payments for at-work injuries that lead to permanent disabilities.
The bill is SB 1115. It should be a no-brainer.