Hearing on Illinois Workers' Comp

Yesterday, I attended a hearing chaired by Illinois Senate President John Cullerton at the State Capital building in Springfield. The subject of the hearing was Workers' Compensation, hence my interest and attendance.

Several employers gave testimony about how the cost of WC claims in Illinois is higher than in nearby states, and gave some anecdotes about some past claims situations that they felt had been unfair. Many of these employers were larger self-insured companies, so their focus was not on the cost of Workers' Comp insurance, but rather the cost of WC claims in Illinois.

Interestingly, it was the labor representatives who testified that focused on Workers' Compensation insurance issues.

I myself had submitted some written testimony to the panel that also focused on Workers' Comp insurance reforms, so I was keenly interested in the testimony provided by the AFL-CIO and some trial attorneys.

They pointed out, correctly, that for small and medium sized employers, the way they generally satisfy their Workers' Compensation obligations is to buy insurance. Thus, for most employers in the state, the cost of Workers' Comp is really the cost of Workers' Comp insurance.

The head of the Illinois Insurance Department testified that Illinois has a competitive Workers' Compensation insurance marketplace, but that really is only partially accurate, in my view. For some employers in Illinois, there is genuine price competition for Workers' Comp insurance. If an employer is the right size, and in the right line of work, and has a decent loss history, there are usually multiple insurance companies interested in competing for the account.

But for small or new businesses, or for those employers in many construction fields, there is little or no price competition for WC.

A lot of employers still end up in the Assigned Risk Plan in Illinois because they're small, or new, or have some bad losses in recent years. And our Assigned Risk Plan is a pretty bad deal for employers--premiums there can be double what premiums would be in the so-called "voluntary market". And the Assigned Risk Plan provides no real help for employers who need assistance in making their workplaces safer.

I offered to the panel some specific suggestions for Workers' Comp insurance reform (in the form of written testimony.) I'll detail those suggestions in a subsequent post.