“After nearly three months of behind-the-scenes maneuvers, a bipartisan summit and numerous speeches, the final vote by Congress on health care reform legislation appears imminent.  According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the vote could come as early as Saturday, March 20, 2010, which at least one observer said was setting up a showdown of “epic proportions.”  If you’re a SHRM member, you can read the full article here.

Admittedly, it’s been interesting to hear the arguments on both sides leading up to this.  Personally, I have gone on record as saying that I don’t think the final legislation will look like what’s being proposed now.  And I cannot imagine an insurance world where people can pick up coverage and/or drop it at any time without being responsible for any back-premiums or pre-existing conditions.  So needless to say, this weed could be historic and I, for one, will be curious to see what happens…

You’ve never seen so many neck braces, wheelchairs and crutches in your life…  But the sad thing is that if the work-related injury was truly legitimate, it should never even end up at a hearing, in my opinion.

Over the years, the employees I’ve dealt with who were truly hurt on the job were my top priority.  We took care of them and got them back to work.  Unfortunately, it’s the fraudulent claims and/or the companies that fight every single claim to the death that are ruining the system.

And let’s not forget the strange formula system by which premiums are calculated.  Many HR Professionals that I know believe that it’s possible for a small business to go bankrupt due to their BWC premiums.

But do you want to know my favorite part of attending a hearing?  Watching a defense attorney stand up and call out, “John Doe?  John Doe?”  Then a claimant comes forward, and the attorney says, “Hi.  I’m your attorney.”  That’s right; they’ve never even met.

Investigate claims.  Use a TPA.  Use an MCO.  Talk to the BWC.  Talk to your injured worker and get them back to work.  With the latter being the key.  You can always fight a claim if you need to, but if you’re doing everything else right, those will be far and few.

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Click here to read an interesting article by HR Morning on the city of Bozeman’s (Montana) hiring practice – where they do exactly what I just mentioned.

Frankly, I’m not surprised at all by the “outcry” from the HR community regarding Bozeman’s hiring method.

I’m a realist.  When recruiting, of course I Google names and check free web resources – including social networking web sites.  But what I find with Facebook and My Space is that those pages are often private at the request of the member (which is exactly what I think they should be and should remain).

If you’re looking for a job, change your status on those sites to private so I can’t see it.  I really started preaching this to the graduating college seniors who attended my seminars last year.  Yet, this advice is also applicable to most job seekers out there.

I would never give my consent or provide my username and login.  It should be interesting to see where this issue goes from here.