Opt-Out Primary Comp Issue for AIA

Defeating legislative efforts to create alternative workers' compensation programs in two states is a top priority for the American Insurance Association this year. Bills filed in the South Carolina and Tennessee legislatures last year would create alternative benefit programs for employers, similar to a program established in Oklahoma through legislation passed in 2013. Texas employers have had the option to "opt out" of the state's workers' compensation system since it was created in 1913. Joseph DiGiovanni, senior vice president of state affairs for the AIA, said dur...