The Sorry Status of Illinois Work Comp

Monday, September 28, 2009 | 0

By Eugene F. Keefe

Synopsis: Illinois, a state in total WC chaos.
 
Editor's comment: We have heard from a number of readers on both sides of the article we wrote last week about the state of our hapless state.
 
One reader pointed out the governor has now sporadically ordered some but not all state employees to take 12 furlough days in 11 months. The Gov apparently wasn't strong enough to take on Illinois' unions that dodged the furlough bullet.

This means workers who are not in a union are again being penalized for it and also not getting raises again. They are all upset and feel either all state employees have to take furlough days or none should. Along with some of the arbitrators, most state workers feel the furloughs are wholly for public relations effect and are not going to make one bit of difference in this budget mess. They are certain the money will be deflected someplace else and again they are being unfairly penalized
 
On top of that, many state employees who are entitled to workers' compensation benefits, particularly medical bills, are not being paid in a timely fashion due to the budget shortfall. We then get to watch the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission awarding millions in penalties and attorney's fees against other state agencies for not paying their bills in a timely fashion! We are told this new and rapidly spiraling issue is going to again place an extraordinary multimillion-dollar burden on Illinois taxpayers. It is a new dirty secret among state administrators who don't want the public to know.
 
On top of this sad news, we saw a recent article from one Illinois lobbying group talking about how we need to reform the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act to require work to be the "primary cause" of a condition causing the need for WC benefits, like carpal tunnel syndrome. We assure all of our readers this restriction was enacted a couple of years ago in Missouri and they have noted dramatic savings from it.
 
The problem in Illinois returns the focus to the arbitrators and commissioners. We have difficulty believing such legislation would be aggressively enforced in our state. We caution all lobbying groups about reform and again quote the president of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, Doug Whitley - "sometimes you don't have to change the thinking, you have to change the thinkers."

We feel reform would be instantaneous, once you allow the sensible and/or conservative thinkers at the arbitration level to believe they won't be run out of town on a rail for being demonstrably moderate or middle-of-the-road. It would also help to have maybe one of the three commission panels be similarly moderate and reasonable and not have all three panels dominated by the interests of Illinois labor.
 
As the primary elections approach next spring, and we assure our readers they will be upon us sooner rather than later, the lead lobbying group for workers' compensation reform is the Illinois State Chamber. Please consider joining them in the fight to bring the Illinois workers' compensation system back into the middle of the U.S. marketplace so Illinois is again a business-friendly environment. For information, go to the chamber's website at http://www.ilchamber.org/

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Eugene F. Keefe is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Keefe, Campbell & Associates. This item from the firm's blog, www.keefe-law.com/blog, was reprinted by permission.
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