A few years ago when managed care was all the rage in health care we all experienced the frustration of not being able to chose the doctor that was going to treat us or members of our families.  The frustrations of having to stay in the network and get referrals were hard to forget.  For most of us, those days are gone and our freedom to chose our doctors has largely been restored.  However, for one type of patient this nightmare continues and it may even get worse.

     When a worker is injured at work, they are now required to treat with a doctor on a panel that has been established by their employer for the first 90 days after the injury.  As you might imagine, these employer preselected doctors are often not very friendly to injured workers.  The first loyalty of these doctors is often to the employer who selected them and not to their injured worker patient.  The Insurance industry is now proposing that this bad situation be made worst by heavily lobbying the state legislature to expand the 90 day requirement to 180 days. Under this proposal, injured workers would have their right to choose their doctor delayed for six months. There is no justification for this infringement on our freedom except for the greed of the insurance industry. We urge you to contact your elected representatives and ask them to oppose such proposals.