Injuries occur in the workplace every day. If any Pennsylvania employee suffers a work-related injury, the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act entitles him to receive benefits that include payments for medical expenses and lost wages. There are additional types of benefits available under the Act, including death benefits for the survivors of those workers killed on the job.

It is not unusual that some Pennsylvania businesses may have difficulty obtaining workers’ compensation insurance. The reason may be that the particular enterprise is new or relatively smaller than its competitors. It may arise from a combination of these and other factors. In this situation, business owners may feel helpless and desperate, especially since they may have the economic means necessary to obtain workers’ compensation insurance coverage.

A viable and practical solution to this problem currently exists in our Commonwealth and has for over 85 years. Pennsylvania offers and provides an assured source of workers’ compensation insurance for Pennsylvania employers (and workers) known as the State Workers’ Insurance Fund (SWIF). The mission of SWIF is to guarantee coverage for employers, thus enabling them to stay in business, continue operations, as well as provide and maintain jobs.

As a state agency, SWIF is required by law to provide coverage to all businesses, especially those that have difficulty obtaining coverage from insurance companies in the private sector. SWIF is an enterprise fund within the Department of Labor & Industry and managed by its Director. SWIF has eight district offices throughout the Commonwealth and issued its first policy on December 31, 1915.

As a result of the existence of an agency such as SWIF, thousands of Pennsylvania business enterprises that otherwise may not have the ability to obtain workers’ compensation insurance coverage are operating and contributing to Pennsylvania’s economy by providing goods, services, and jobs to Pennsylvania residents and their communities.

With no regard to the worker’s fault (in most instances) as well as no regard to the worker’s previous medical or physical condition, workers’ compensation insurance should compensate an injured worker by providing benefits for medical expenses and lost earnings when she is injured, contracts a disease, or has a condition worsen as a result of employment.

Employees of a business insured by SWIF who experience a work-related injury may rest assured that SWIF will pay for reasonable and necessary medical expenses related to such injury. The day after SWIF receives a properly completed workers’ compensation application and premium check, coverage begins for the employer and, more importantly, for its employees.