History of Major Contributing Cause Standard Suggests Adoption May not Yield Savings

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and business groups are hoping to persuade the Democratic state Legislature to tighten up the causation standard for compensable injuries as a way to lower the cost of the state's comp system, but legal commentators across the country say the plan just might backfire. Illinois’ system is the seventh-most expensive in the nation, according to the 2014 Oregon Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking, and Gov. Rauner has been pushing his "Turnaround Agenda" as a means to bring the state further down the list. One of his most controversi...