In a word, no. Unlike their shore-based counterparts, the general maritime law prohibits states from including seamen and fishermen in their workers compensation programs, and vessel owners are not required to provide workers compensation insurance for vessel crewmembers. However, there is a flip side to this. Unlike shore based employees, seamen are permitted to sue their employers for personal injuries resulting from negligence or unseaworthy conditions on their vessels, and they are entitled to receive maintenance and cure until they reach maximum medical improvement from their injury or illness which occurred during their service to the vessel. The right to sue for unseaworthiness and failure to provide maintenance and cure is found in the general maritime law. The right to sue for negligence is found in a law passed by Congress in the early part of the twentieth century known as the Jones Act. Today, seamen and commercial fishermen who have the right to sue their employers are generally referred to as "Jones Act seamen."