Workers’ Comp Battles Across the Nation

Both the Missouri House and Senate are working on significant workers' compensation bills, but there is disagreement on a critical issue. The bills seek to fix mistakes made in a 2005 law that inadvertently allowed employees to sue fellow employees over workplace injuries. That 2005 law also moved occupational diseases out of the workers' compensation system and placed them in the circuit court system.

On the court issue, debate is centering on lawsuits over a former asbestos plant and employees diagnosed with mesothelioma. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that there is no proper remedy under workers' compensation because many people don't find out they have the disease until years later. They seek to have these and similar occupational disease cases remain in the circuit court.

The opposing side wants the cases returned to the workers' compensation system, where the payouts would be smaller. The Senate has granted initial approval to a bill that includes an exemption for certain deadly occupational diseases; the House did the opposite. Both versions of the bill need another vote to pass their respective chambers.

Montana

A Montana bill, HB 71, seeks to curtail workers' compensation benefits from being paid to illegal aliens. It would require Montana worker's compensation insurance carriers to establish processes to ensure no wage loss or medical benefits for work- related injury or disease are paid to illegal aliens. The bill is set for hearing in the Senate on March 3.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire also is addressing the illegal alien issue. A bill sponsored by State Rep. William Infantine, R-Hillsborough, limits workers' compensation payments "to medical, hospital, and remedial payments in the case of any illegal alien injured in the course of employment." If passed, HB 236 would take effect Jan. 1, 2012.

North Carolina

Opposite sides are pitching fierce battles over workers' compensation reform legislation in North Carolina. Supporters say reform is needed to reduce costs. Opponents label the proposed bill "misguided" at best, claiming it will:

• Cut off workers' compensation after 9.5 years even for people who are paralyzed or so severely injured that they will never be able to work again
• Force injured workers back to work in low-paying jobs with few benefits and little opportunity for advancement
• Shift the cost of caring for injured workers to the taxpayers through programs like Social Security Disability, Medicaid and Medicare

A recent report from the Workers' Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) states that North Carolina's total cost per workers' compensation claim are among the highest in the nation. Now, WCRI is coming under attack, with critics calling the data "flawed." The bill is just starting its long vetting process in the Legislature.

Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a workers' compensation bill that offers the first rewrite of Title 85, the statute outlining the current workers' compensation system, in 34 years. Gov. Mary Fallin pushed for the new legislation, which her office says will:

• Reduce medical and legal costs to Oklahoma businesses
• Bring quicker resolution to cases
• Require all parties within the system to be held accountable
• Shorten the timeline for resolution of cases
• Collect accurate data to measure cost-drivers within the system and to aid in future reform efforts
• Reduce litigation with an emphasis on alternative dispute resolution such as mediation and the Ombudsman Program

SB 878 passed 6-3 its first test, remarkably free of amendments, a sign perhaps of a consensus that something must be done to rein in medical costs, a major cost driver. One of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, said, "Oklahoma had a 68 percent increase in the last 10 years on medical costs in the workers' compensation system. The goal is to get injured workers' medical needs treated so they can return to their jobs quicker and to reduce costs that employers must absorb."