Lawmakers hear push to remove $15,000 workers’‑compensation scar cap and index benefit to wages

Boston — The Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development on June 18 heard testimony from lawmakers and attorneys urging removal of a longstanding $15,000 cap on workers’‑compensation scarring/disfigurement awards and expansion of compensable scarring to the whole body.

Representative Christopher Hendricks described H.2105, “An Act Creating Fairness in Workers’ Compensation Disfigurement Benefits,” as an update to a statute he said was rooted in a 1991 cap that no longer reflects wage growth. Under the bill as explained at the hearing, the existing $15,000 cap would be replaced by an indexed formula — 30 times the state average weekly wage — and scarring awards would be available for disfigurement anywhere on the body rather than being limited to hands, neck and face.

Hendricks told the committee that the $15,000 limit was set in 1991 and “does not get adjusted over time,” and that indexing would make awards responsive to wage growth. An attorney who has litigated workers’‑comp cases told the committee that the static cap has reduced the real value of awards and that some injured workers with significant scarring or mobility impairment receive little compensation under current law.

Witnesses said the change would make payments more equitable and would alleviate financial burdens for workers who suffer disfiguring injuries through no fault of their own. Lawmakers and advocates emphasized the bill is intended for scarring and disfigurement awards, not broad restructuring of the workers’‑compensation system.

Ending: The committee did not vote on H.2105 at the hearing; supporters asked for the bill to be reported out favorably and for technical drafting assistance where needed.