(1) This chapter shall be cited as the “Workers' Compensation Law”.
(2) The primary purposes of the workers' compensation laws are to pay timely temporary and permanent disability benefits to all legitimately injured workers who suffer an injury or disease arising out of and in the course of their employment, to pay reasonable and necessary medical expenses resulting therefrom, and then to return the worker to the work force; to improve workplace safety through safety programs; to improve health care delivery through use of managed care concepts; to encourage the return to work of injured workers; to deter and punish frauds of agents, brokers, solicitors, employers, and employees relating to procurement of workers' compensation coverage or the provision or denial of benefits; to curtail the rise in medical costs associated with the provision of workers' compensation benefits; and to emphasize that the workers' compensation system in this state must be returned to a state of economic viability.