michael grabell was the lead reporter on this for pro- publica.eporter howard burkess of npr collaborated with him. welcome to you both. howard burkess, you listen to the story of joel ramirez, and you just wonder how could he get by? >> well, he had a very difficult time getting by. he didn't get enough in workers compensation benefits to replace the home health aide himself. it would have cost him about $500 a day to do that. he got barely more than that in an entire week of benefits. so it was a struggle. it was a struggle for the family. and there were times when he was left to sit in his own feces for hours because there was no one there to help him get clean. >> woodruff: one of the consequences of being paralyzed was that he was bowel incontinent. michael grabell, tell us about the changes that have happened in workers compensation laws over the last few decades. >> well, what states have done is really three things. they've cut benefits. they made it harder to qualify for workers comp benefits by raising legal standards. and they've also c