Illinois Workers' Compensation Gets Rare Full House Hearing
From the Chicago Tribune
What is the value of a finger? An arm?
The Illinois House spent more than five hours Tuesday discussing such questions during a hearing on workers' compensation, the system that's supposed to make workers whole after they've been hurt on the job.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner says workers' compensation costs are especially high in Illinois, stifling job creation and stunting growth. He's made changing the system a cornerstone of his first-year agenda.
So Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan, who presided over an overhaul of the system just a few years ago, convened the entire House to listen to testimony on the issue with less a month left in the spring session.
In a sign of where Madigan and fellow Democrats stand, the hearing was heavy on praise for the current system and light on input from the business community, which says the cost savings promised in 2011 have not materialized.
Of the hearing's nine sections, six focused on workers and their families' encounters with the compensation system in Illinois and other states, with a former member of the Workers' Compensation Board of Indiana present to explain how each situation would have been handled in the neighbor state. Rauner routinely cites Indiana as a haven for businesses seeking lower operating costs.
Laurie Summers, a nurse who described being injured at a workplace in Indiana, said she was at the Capitol to explain "why I would never recommend anyone to work in the state of Indiana," citing its workers' compensation laws.
Employers who pay into the system were represented only briefly, when a pair of panelists from the Illinois Manufacturers' Association urged some changes.
Greg Baise, president and CEO of the manufacturers group, said he wants medical costs under workers' compensation to be lowered, contending that coverage in Illinois pays thousands more for typical procedures like hernia and knee surgery compared with private or government health insurance plans.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Tribune
What is the value of a finger? An arm?
The Illinois House spent more than five hours Tuesday discussing such questions during a hearing on workers' compensation, the system that's supposed to make workers whole after they've been hurt on the job.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner says workers' compensation costs are especially high in Illinois, stifling job creation and stunting growth. He's made changing the system a cornerstone of his first-year agenda.
So Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan, who presided over an overhaul of the system just a few years ago, convened the entire House to listen to testimony on the issue with less a month left in the spring session.
In a sign of where Madigan and fellow Democrats stand, the hearing was heavy on praise for the current system and light on input from the business community, which says the cost savings promised in 2011 have not materialized.
Of the hearing's nine sections, six focused on workers and their families' encounters with the compensation system in Illinois and other states, with a former member of the Workers' Compensation Board of Indiana present to explain how each situation would have been handled in the neighbor state. Rauner routinely cites Indiana as a haven for businesses seeking lower operating costs.
Laurie Summers, a nurse who described being injured at a workplace in Indiana, said she was at the Capitol to explain "why I would never recommend anyone to work in the state of Indiana," citing its workers' compensation laws.
Employers who pay into the system were represented only briefly, when a pair of panelists from the Illinois Manufacturers' Association urged some changes.
Greg Baise, president and CEO of the manufacturers group, said he wants medical costs under workers' compensation to be lowered, contending that coverage in Illinois pays thousands more for typical procedures like hernia and knee surgery compared with private or government health insurance plans.
Read more in our daily News Update...