For nearly a century, American workers and their employers had a compact: A guarantee that after a workplace accident, employers would pay the injured workers’ medical bills and enough of their wages to help during recovery. That compact is fracturing. State legislators — at the behest of big business and insurance companies — are slashing benefits and making it harder for injured workers to get the medical care their doctors recommend.

Coming Wednesday, ProPublica and NPR investigate workers’ compensation and this fracturing compact between worker and employer.

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