The newly enacted Illinois Workers’ Compensation law falls short in a number of ways, according to State Senator Kyle McCarter.
“This new law will do little to prevent the kind of fraud and corruption which plagues our workers’ compensation system for employer and employee alike,” said McCarter (R-Lebanon). “It will also not significantly reduce workers’ comp costs, which are among the highest in the nation.”
Governor Quinn signed the legislation Tuesday and flew around the state to talk up the new law at multiple stops but McCarter, who pushed the workers’ compensation reform issue to the forefront this spring, said he’d like to see changes to the law debated and adopted by the Legislature during the fall Veto session.
“If we’re going to put our families back to work, we need to take steps that actually make it worthwhile for the business risk takers to invest their money in buildings, equipment and employees,” said McCarter.
“True reform, with real substance, can still happen if we get serious,” said McCarter. “We need to add workplace causation to the new law, close the still existing loophole on doctor shopping, make the new medical fee guidelines stand for something and address other concerns such as drug and alcohol use on the job.”
McCarter is not alone in his criticism. In a June 18 story published by the Belleville News Democrat, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said the new law fell far short of what was really needed to address the workers’ compensation problems.
"To say we've reformed the workers' comp system is a gross overstatement," Madigan told the newspaper.
Sen. McCarter said the new law’s primary focus is on reducing the medical fee schedule by 30 percent. He said there are loopholes that would allow disability awards to deviate from American Medical Association (AMA) guidelines and prevent employers from reviewing or challenging the awards. Additionally, the senator said it does nothing to prevent so-called ‘doctor shopping’ whereby an injured worker can search for a doctor until one is found that will agree the workplace caused the injury.
Another recent story by the Belleville newspaper, which has published a series of investigate reports on workers’ compensation fraud, would seem to justify McCarter’s concerns.
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In a June 12 story, the News-Democrat reported on a letter from workers compensation attorney Tom Rich of Fairview Heights to local unions:
‘In a two-page letter to various union leaders dated June 2, the day after the legislature passed the bill, Rich characterized the reform as "minimal" and encouraged injured workers to call him so he could file their cases before Sept. 1, to "maximize your recovery. ..." The reform legislation also places some limits on a claimant's choice of physicians.’
The newspaper added: ‘Rich wrote in the letter to union presidents that because of his 30 years as a workers' compensation lawyer, "I know which doctors help injured employees and are willing to navigate the workers' compensation system to get the best result for you."’
Sen. McCarter said the new law lacks the substance of the proposal he sponsored this spring and what he first began discussing publically last fall.
“This law lacks the most important provision contained in my original bill and that is causation,” said McCarter. “The primary cause of a workplace injury should be the workplace not a weekend softball or basketball game, or injury at home. “It is simple fairness but it’s missing in the new law. If we’re paying benefits to anyone else, it diminishes the care that those actually injured in the workplace truly deserve.”
McCarter said the plan does not fix what occurred at the Menard Correctional Center where hundreds of employees, including the warden, have filed claims for on-the-job injuries totaling more than $10 million. Those claims are still under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Senator McCarter said another shortcoming in the new law is limited collective bargaining rights.
“Under my proposal, collective bargaining rights were maintained for the entire construction industry but in the new law the operating engineers and steelworkers are the only unions whose bargaining rights are protected,” said McCarter.
McCarter said the new law also singles out the medical community but leaves out the participation of other major players and high-powered special interests such as trial lawyers. He said real reform would have been a fair and equitable with all stakeholders sharing responsibility.
“Some people say the new law is a step in the right direction but in reality it’s a sidestep because it fails to address fraud, does nothing to lower workers’ comp rates which are far higher than most other states and ultimately lets down those workers truly injured at work and who are in need for medical care to get them back to work,” said McCarter. “We can and must do better.”
