Last week, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton formed a bipartisan committee, Special Committee on Workers’ Compensation Reform, to address workers’ compensation costs in Illinois and whether reform is needed. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce believes that the announcement marks a positive signal of a real attempt to consider and hopefully enact meaningful workers’ compensation legislation. This Senate Committee is scheduled to conduct two hearings on November 29, 2010 and on December 8, 2010 in Springfield and Chicago , respectively, at which time the Committee will receive evidence and hear testimony regarding the reason we need workers’ compensation reform in Illinois. Now is the time for you to be heard!
Our firm is a member of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Employment Law Council’s Workers’ Compensation Committee, which is spearheading the efforts to seek meaningful reform of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. As a member of the Committee, our firm speaks on behalf of employers and insurance carriers that we represent and will continue to present those interests to our Committee and to the Senate’s Special Committee. But we need the help of employers and insurance carriers, even if you are not currently one of our clients!
If you are willing and able to share with us data showing your workers’ compensation costs from 2000 through the present, we will collect this and have it included in the evidence being presented to the Senate Committee at the scheduled hearing dates. Specifically, we are looking for total paid in claims, indemnity payments and medical payments, each year, and if you can also produce this data for your Illinois claims in comparison with claims you have in other jurisdictions, as well as show the number of employees in each jurisdiction, this will be even more helpful. Additionally, if you would like to speak at one of the hearings, please let us know, and we will submit your information to our WC Committee. There will be limited opportunity for persons to testify, so not everyone may have the opportunity to speak, but we would like to see that you get that opportunity if possible.
If you have any questions regarding the Senate announcement, the planned hearings or the data we are collecting, please contact Steve Murdock at [email protected], or visit our website and link to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Please note that we must have all data collected by November 27, 2010, so please do not delay. Here is an opportunity to have your voice heard on workers’ compensation reform!