As the spring legislative session draws toward a close, word has it that we may actually see some amendments to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.

The word from the Illinois Chamber of Commerce is that the two sides of the legislature are working out final details to what sounds like an agreed bill to amend the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act by requiring use of AMA guidelines, creation of PPO networks for use by employers, strengthening of utilization review, capping wage differential awards and bringing our medical fee schedule costs more in-line with other states.  The specific details are still pending, and as we all know, “The devil is in the details.”

As many of you have probably seen, the news has been abuzz in the papers, online and over the airwaves of the push for workers’ compensation reform in Illinois as the State tries to soften the blow of its decision to raise taxes at the beginning of the year.  Employer groups have jumped on this as the opportunity to reform the Act, and the Governor has pushed leading Democrats to “do something.”  We remain cautiously optimistic that we will actually see meaningful and actual cost-saving reform.

We continue to follow this very closely, and as there are further developments, we will let you know.  Please continue to subscribe to our blog, and watch for updates over the next couple of weeks!