June 8, 2009: Injured workers and their advocates, labor, consumer and medical leaders opposed the insurance industry's unprecedented proposal to increase workers compensation premiums by 23%. At a news conference preceding a hearing to examine insurance companies' claims of increased "medical costs," the advocates said the insurance industry has misleadingly labeled the costs of denying and delaying medical care as "medical costs." The insurance industry's own data show that "cost controls" and "medical-legal" expenses doubled in recent years, while payments to physicians dropped by 40% from 2003 to 2007.

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