Lawmakers Introduce Competing Comp Benefits Overhauls

Lawmakers in the Mississippi Legislature are weighing two approaches to expanding workers' compensation benefits, setting up a policy debate over benefit levels versus duration. H.B. 80, introduced Wednesday, would significantly raise weekly benefits by increasing compensation for disability and death cases to 100% of the state’s average weekly wage, up from the current 66 2/3%. The bill also lifts the cap on total recovery by tying it to 450 weeks at the higher rate and broadens eligibility and payout levels for death benefits to spouses, children and other dependents. Th...