WHY CUT EMPLOYER COMP COSTS?

According the Decatur's (Macon County) newspaper's editorial board, the State should cut employeer workmans compensation costs, the third highest in the nation, to induce new industries into Illinois. Viz.,

State must cut workers compensation cost
http://www.herald-review.com/

By the H&R Editorial Staff  January 3, 2011 5:00 am

ANY ACTION taken reforming the state's workers compensation system will not have an immediate effect on the state's biggest problem, the budget deficit.  But it will have an impact on the state's other huge problem - a lack of new jobs moving into the state. 

The current workers compensation law, passed in 2005, seemed like the solution at the time. But in practice, it has driven up the cost of workers compensation while failing to deliver on curtailing costs.

The result is that Illinois businesses now pay some of the highest workers compensation rates in the nation. The state ranks third for worker compensation insurance, behind Montana and Alaska. According to a recent editorial in the Chicago Tribune, the state was ranked 10th two years ago and 21st in 2006, when the reforms kicked in.

Workers compensation is one of three areas special legislative committees have been examining, with an eye on reform. The other two are Medicaid and public education.

All three are important, but workers compensation costs are most frequently mentioned as a deterrent to bringing more jobs to the state.

No one would argue that workers injured on the job should not receive compensation. But the current Illinois system goes too far and costs too much. Other states, including neighboring Missouri and Indiana, have been much more proactive at reducing costs.

There are many issues with the current workers compensation system, but some of the practices are outrageous. There are cases, for example, of workers who have received comp-ensation even after it was established they were drunk or high when they were injured. The system also pays benefits for a lifetime, even though at some point Social Security and retirement programs have kicked in. There are even instances in which employers have had to pay compensation, even though the injuries didn't happen on the job.

In addition, the state pays an overly generous medical fee, for example reimbursing the surgical equipment at more than the actual costs. To add to the issues, many of the state's arbitrators have routinely ruled against employers.

That doesn't even include fraud. Few cases are investigated because of a lack of staff.

Finding a solution in the General Assembly will not be easy. Union leaders and trial lawyers are expected to lobby heavily for few or no changes in the law. At the same time, hospitals and doctors will not want to see their fees slashed.

But these high costs are preventing the state from growing in a crucial area - jobs. Job growth, and the resultant tax revenues, is one way for the state to correct its budget system in the long term.

While reforms won't be easy, they are necessary. The growth of Illinois jobs depends on lower workers compensation costs for employers.

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COMMENT:  Workers Comp and Disability Benefits (for injuries happening off the job) are common in most collectivist States like Illinois and New York.  These laws were enacted to substitute for an employee's Common Law right to sue his employer for injuries sustained on the job.

If the editors want to deny comp to drunk employees, let the employee sue the employer at Common Law for allowing
himmerher to work while drunk.

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