But it’s bad news for those with legitimate injuries
CHICAGO — A workers’ compensation overhaul that passed in the Illinois state legislature Wednesday — after failing earlier in the week — was meant to end alleged abuse by workers, attorneys and doctors. But the law is also bad news for workers with legitimate claims of work-related injuries.
The law, which passed on the last day of the legislature’s spring session, reduces the amount of money the state pays doctors for workers’ comp related injuries by 30 percent, reportedly saving $500 to $700 million a year. It creates a network of medical providers to deal with claims, to prevent “doctor shopping.” And it dismantles the state board that currently evaluates workers’ compensation claims, since critics charge the members are too close with attorneys representing injured workers.
The bill addresses widespread complaints of abuse of the program, in the wake of hundreds of questionable workers’ comp claims from prison guards at one downstate prison, Menard, regarding alleged injuries from heavy cell-locking devices. But the law will also likely affect workers who are simply trying to get compensation for work-related injuries with no abuse or fraud involved.
The bill cuts the amount of time people can draw payments for carpal tunnel syndrome from 40 to 28 weeks. It shifts the burden of proof from the employer to workers in proving whether alcohol or drugs were involved in an accident. And in the bigger picture, it is a sally against workers and the concept of workers’ compensation at a time that employers are increasingly fighting workers’ compensation claims and aggressively questioning whether injuries are related to work.
In contrast to neighboring states Wisconsin and Michigan, which have led the nation in so-called reforms that are pro-business and anti-union and anti-worker, Illinois is still seen as a state where immigrants rights, workers rights and other relatively progressive values prevail, making the workers’ comp bill’s success somewhat surprising.
New Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is seen as very pro-business and pro-privatization, was a key supporter of the bill. So was Gov. Patrick Quinn, who is often seen as a workers’ rights advocate. Democrats had pressed for the bill to pass as a concession to business after the state legislature passed a steep 46 percent corporate income tax hike in January.
As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, Emanuel said the bill will
“make Illinois a more competitive place to do business, create jobs and strengthen our economy.’’
Some Republican legislators said the bill didn’t go far enough, especially in terms of the contentious issue of determining whether injuries are work-related. This is especially touchy for repetitive stress related injuries that may not occur in a distinct accident at work, but are in many cases related to the physically grueling or repetitive work people do on a daily basis.
Many large companies and trade associations had supported the legislation, though the Illinois Chamber of Commerce did not. Officials with the company Caterpillar had said they were being courted by other states, implying they might uproot their Illinois operations if the bill didn’t pass.
The bill was sponsored by Kwame Raoul, a Democratic legislator. He threatened that if the bill didn’t pass, the state could get rid of workers’ compensation altogether.
Except for certain programs, including those for energy workers and miners suffering black lung disease, workers’ compensation is carried out by state governments rather than the federal government.
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Kari Lydersen is a Chicago-based journalist, author and assistant professor at Northwestern University, where she leads the investigative specialization at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Her books include Mayor 1%: Rahm Emanuel and the Rise of Chicago’s 99%.
