[Goose]

exactly! workers' comp covers loss of wages. so the employer makes back a good portion of the premium by not paying wages.

Only if he is unlucky enough to have lots of injuries. Like all insurance, it is great to have when you need it, but just a cost when you do not.

after 4 decades of stonewalling (recall that NCAA lawyers invented the term "student athlete" in court filings in the 50s to get out of covering paralyzed athletes), the NCAA now requires that schools pay for long-term, catastrophic injury coverage (yay!). the cost of those premiums should go down as disability insurance covers much of the same territory.

yes, there are extra costs, but i believe offsets take away some, even much, of the bite.

This would be true if it wasn't necessary to still insure students for accidents that happen that are NOT part of their "work". In all cases Stanford will end up buying two policies from different entities. The non-work related insurance is competitive free enterprise in terms of coverage options and rates. The workman's comp coverage is mandated by the state. You can be self-insuring, but if you are you have to meet the state requirements. Having two policies instead of one is always going to be more expensive because the risk pools overlap. It is made much worse by the State mandates that restrict what the insurers can do. It also means that in litigation the State will be a party, which raises insurance costs considerably. Workman's Comp is a considerable expense even in relatively "safe" business. In the case of football players (as with construction workers), it is even more costly.

[Goose]

exactly! workers' comp covers loss of wages. so the employer makes back a good portion of the premium by not paying wages.

Only if he is unlucky enough to have lots of injuries. Like all insurance, it is great to have when you need it, but just a cost when you do not.

after 4 decades of stonewalling (recall that NCAA lawyers invented the term "student athlete" in court filings in the 50s to get out of covering paralyzed athletes), the NCAA now requires that schools pay for long-term, catastrophic injury coverage (yay!). the cost of those premiums should go down as disability insurance covers much of the same territory.

yes, there are extra costs, but i believe offsets take away some, even much, of the bite.

This would be true if it wasn't necessary to still insure students for accidents that happen that are NOT part of their "work". In all cases Stanford will end up buying two policies from different entities. The non-work related insurance is competitive free enterprise in terms of coverage options and rates. The workman's comp coverage is mandated by the state. You can be self-insuring, but if you are you have to meet the state requirements. Having two policies instead of one is always going to be more expensive because the risk pools overlap. It is made much worse by the State mandates that restrict what the insurers can do. It also means that in litigation the State will be a party, which raises insurance costs considerably. Workman's Comp is a considerable expense even in relatively "safe" business. In the case of football players (as with construction workers), it is even more costly.