Audit will shine light on comp system
The South Carolina Legislative Audit Council has informed the Workers’ Compensation Commission its audit of the agency will focus on attorney fees and how the Commission determines disability, along with reviewing the Commission’s performance in half-a-dozen other areas.
In an April 15, 2010 letter to Gary Cannon, executive director of the commission, the Audit Council sketched out the scope of its ongoing audit, which is expected to be completed this summer. A final report will likely be released this fall.
The Audit Council will review a sample of contested cases to determine what types of benefits are sought by injured workers; the amounts of attorneys’ fees requested by claimants attorneys and approved by the commission; the attorneys’ fees of employers; and the general compliance of files with state laws and regulations.
In a separate bullet, the council said it would also “determine the Commission’s compliance with approving attorney fees and costs. Also, compare attorney fees and costs to those allowed in other states.”
The audit will “compare South Carolina’s method of determining
disability (including AMA impairment ratings, age, occupation,
restrictions of injured workers,
etc.) to those of other states.”
Also, it will examine the Commission’s efforts to prevent employer
workers’ compensation fraud.”
The Audit Council routinely audits
state agencies at the request of legislators. The current audit of the
Commission was requested by a dozen senators who said
they desire “an inquiry into the operations, systems and management
practices of the WCC as they relate to the consistency of workers’
compensation awards and the reasonableness of attorneys’ fee awards.”