Newspaper: Insurer Profits Should Not be 'Excessive'

Tuesday, January 24, 2017 | 0

Lawmakers “must tread carefully” and not cut workers’ compensation benefits so much that it ruins injured workers financially, the Chicago Sun Times opined Sunday.

“If those workers wind up on Social Security Disability Insurance, the cost of workplace injuries has been shifted from employers to taxpayers. That can’t be allowed to happen in Illinois,” the newspaper said.

Workers’ compensation reform is part of a 13-bill legislative package being cobbled together by state Senate President John Cullerton, a Democrat, and Republican Minority Leader Christine Radogno to break a nearly two-year budget impasse.

Senate Bill 12, scheduled for a hearing today before the Senate Executive Committee, proposes a closed drug formulary, a 10% to 15% decrease in medical fees and other changes.

The newspaper said it supports allowing the Department of Insurance to set limits on the amount of profits that can be made by insurers.