Opinion: Fighting racism in tribal workers compensation policies

Fed up with high premiums and state adjudicatory systems that lacked any cultural sensitivity, beginning in the early 1980s Tribes across the country asserted their sovereign authority and became “self-insured” for their workers compensation programs. Who could blame them? Injured Tribal employees had been plunged into state-run programs that were institutionally disconnected from Tribal governments and cultures. Through no fault of their own, injured Tribal employees had to fend for themselves through a foreign process, and were subjected to hostile medical providers while in a vulnerable state, often in severe pain and heavily medicated.

When Tribes became self-insured the problem was they often lacked the internal infrastructure to assume management of the programs. States had been managing workers compensation programs since around 1911. Never fear, your insurance carrier is here. In rushed the Tribes’ insurance brokers to fill the void. Suddenly and without fanfare, Tribal workers comp programs became privatized.

The sales pitch was sovereignty. “We will help you assert your sovereign rights,” said the carriers. Workers comp insurance policies were developed for “Sovereign Nations,” and premiums were slashed to create the appearance of a better system. Tribes did not realize that the assertion of sovereign rights really only meant the assertion of sovereign immunity to protect the carriers. It is the injured workers who suffered.