Illinois, Montana and North Carolina have proposed or passed legislation that would affect or completely dismantle their respective workers' compensation systems, according to various reports.
The Montana Senate has passed a workers' compensation reform bill that supporters claim will produce nearly $100 million in savings in its first year of implementation by closing benefits after five years, prohibiting claims for workers' comp in cases where employees are on breaks off the premises and requiring an impairment rating of at least Class 2, or "moderate" impairment, to receive Permanent Partial Disability wage loss benefits.
According to the Insurance Journal report, Montana paid nearly $400 million in workers' compensation rates last year. The state has one of the highest workers' comp rates in the country.
In North Carolina, Rep. Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth County) introduced a workers' comp bill that would reform a system that bill supporters say is rife with abuse, according to a Raleigh News & Observer report. The Illinois house is also considering a plan proposed by Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) that would alter or even scrap the state's much-criticized workers' comp system, leaving businesses and employees to fight for payment over workplace injuries in court, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report. Rep. Bradley has been leading efforts to overhaul the program, which reports some of the highest workers' comp costs in the nation.
Read more on workers' comp:
-Spine Surgeons and Workers' Compensation: 5 Things to Know
-Texas Bills Aim to Protect Physicians, Authors' Motives Scrutinized
-California Ambulatory Surgery Association Fights Proposed Workers' Comp Reductions
The Montana Senate has passed a workers' compensation reform bill that supporters claim will produce nearly $100 million in savings in its first year of implementation by closing benefits after five years, prohibiting claims for workers' comp in cases where employees are on breaks off the premises and requiring an impairment rating of at least Class 2, or "moderate" impairment, to receive Permanent Partial Disability wage loss benefits.
According to the Insurance Journal report, Montana paid nearly $400 million in workers' compensation rates last year. The state has one of the highest workers' comp rates in the country.
In North Carolina, Rep. Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth County) introduced a workers' comp bill that would reform a system that bill supporters say is rife with abuse, according to a Raleigh News & Observer report. The Illinois house is also considering a plan proposed by Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) that would alter or even scrap the state's much-criticized workers' comp system, leaving businesses and employees to fight for payment over workplace injuries in court, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report. Rep. Bradley has been leading efforts to overhaul the program, which reports some of the highest workers' comp costs in the nation.
Read more on workers' comp:
-Spine Surgeons and Workers' Compensation: 5 Things to Know
-Texas Bills Aim to Protect Physicians, Authors' Motives Scrutinized
-California Ambulatory Surgery Association Fights Proposed Workers' Comp Reductions