In war zone, a workers' comp challenge

Insurers cover Iraqis employed by US firms

April 06, 2005|Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Iraqis employed by US contractors in their country can collect workers' compensation insurance -- whether they're hurt by a ladder collapse in Baghdad or a bomb in Mosul. But in a country where anti-American insurgents scan the mail, many Iraqis receive their benefits in blank envelopes because a check from the United States can be a ticket to execution.

''These people can be marked for taking money from Westerners," said Sara Payne, senior vice president for the Rutherfoord Agency. The insurance broker in Alexandria, Va., brings together contractors and insurers.

Hundreds of Iraqis and Americans -- or their survivors -- are collecting insurance benefits for work-related injuries or deaths. The extension of benefits to worldwide employees of US contractors is not new, but officials working with the program say there's never been a situation comparable to Iraq, where more than 40,000 locals are employed in the middle of an insurgency.

The majority of the 2,500 claims so far have been for traditional on-the-job accidents, though, insurance executives and contractors say. The total includes at least 277 claims for death benefits.

Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, which provides much of the logistics for the US military in Iraq, said it has handled more than 1,900 claims for its Iraq operations -- 6 percent of them from hostile incidents.

Halliburton had the most overall claims, but the largest number of death claims, 122, was submitted for employees of Titan Corp., which provides translators.