Illinois lawmakers are considering two bills that would establish limits on causation for compensable workplace injuries and redraft medical fee schedules in workers compensation.
H.B. 4082, introduced Wednesday, would set parameters on what constitutes an injury that occurs “out of and in the course of employment.” The bill states that such an injury would be compensable “only if the accident significantly caused or contributed to both the resulting condition and the disability.”
The bill also states that “an injury does not arise out of and in the course of employment if (1) the hazard or risk was not incidental to employment and was a hazard or risk to which the general public is also exposed, (2) the injury did not occur at a time and place and under circumstances reasonably required by the employment, or (3) the disability resulted from a personal risk.”
H.B. 4079, also filed Wednesday, would charge the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission with developing a new medical fee schedule for most services in comp, basing some of the fees on geographic regions. The fee schedule, as it is currently, would be based on fees paid under Medicare.
This article was first published in Business Insurance.
