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The Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill that requires the pre-approval of workers’ compensation insurance rates by the Illinois Department of Insurance. The legislation also “permits sensible corporate restructuring for insurers and reinsurers,” according to the American Insurance Association. But, according to AIA’s Steve Schneider, vice president for state affairs, Midwest region, the group is “disappointed that policymakers have…

Workers' compensation costs in Illinois have grown every year since reforms efforts in 2011. A study of workers' compensation claims through March 2017 by the nonprofit Workers Compensation Research Institute found the state’s average cost to businesses rose by 1 to 3 percent annually since 2011. The study found medical payments, protections against loss (called indemnity), and administrative costs have…

Beginning July 2, all parties in workers' compensation claims cases will receive notice through electronic means, so the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission needs updated email addresses, the commission announced this week. The commission will no longer send notices via mail after July 2. It's part of a modernization effort by the commission to streamline operations and close down massive warehouses that…

The average total cost per workers’ compensation claim in Indiana was stable in the years since the state enacted workers’ compensation system reforms, according to a recent Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) study. The study, CompScope Benchmarks for Indiana, 18th Edition, provides a look at changes in the Indiana workers’ compensation system following the enactment in 2013 of House Enrolled…

There's a crisis looming in our state's workers' compensation system. If allowed to fester, it will keep workers from receiving timely medical treatment for workplace injuries. It will delay workers' recoveries and their return to their jobs. And it will end up costing more for the very businesses and insurers seeking efficiencies in the system. This crisis is not one…

The average total cost per workers’ compensation claim in Illinois grew annually anywhere from 1 to 3 percent since 2012, according to a recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). “Due to small to moderate changes in medical payments per claim, indemnity benefits per claim, and benefit delivery expenses per claim, the average total cost per workers’ compensation…

The Allen County Board of Commissioners cannot be held liable for a former county court employee’s disability claims because the board was neither his direct nor indirect employer, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. In Carleton Harris v. Allen County Board of Commissioners, 17-2577, Carleton Harris began working at the Allen County Juvenile Center in 1995, and his…

Doug Jameson doesn’t need a study to tell him what he already knows about the depressing state of business in Illinois. “I’m looking around downtown Belleville right now and I can see five for-sale signs plastered across what were once business operations,” Jameson told the Metro East Sun. “Businesses don’t want to locate here and the ones that are still…