Governor Strengthens Workers' Compensation Program

WCRI Welcomes Former CEO of Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission

These three arbitrators will join the 27 who are currently serving. In 2011, Quinn championed and signed into law historic workers compensation reform legislation to overhaul the system in Illinois. These individuals have years of professional experience that will benefit the Illinois workers compensation program, Quinn said. I am pleased to appoint these arbitrators and a commissioner who will work for the people of Illinois to resolve workers compensation cases in a manner which treats injured workers with respect and ensures that employers in Illinois receive a fair and efficient resolution to claims. The reforms signed into law by Quinn in 2011 called on the governor to appoint new arbitrators to the Commission, considering the recommendations made by the Workers Compensation Advisory Board, which is a body composed of six members representing the employer community and six members representing employees and working people in Illinois. Arbitrators at the Commission are responsible for ruling on claims filed by employees who suffer an injury at work. The law requires that all newly-appointed arbitrators must be attorneys and that both arbitrators and Commissioners are subject to the ethical rules and requirements followed by Illinois judges. Arbitrators and Commissioners must also take at least 20 hours of training every two years while in office regarding professional and ethical standards, detection of fraud, evidence-based medical treatment, and Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis.
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What obesity means for workers' comp claims

Thomas wrote the opinion for the five-Justice majority in Gruszeczka v. The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission , with Justice Charles E. Freeman dissenting for himself and Justice Anne M. Burke.AOur detailed preview of the facts and lower court opinions in Gruszeczka is here .AOur report on the oral argument is here .AWatch the video of the oral argument here . The claimant in Gruszeczka filed a claim for benefits in connection with an injury he allegedly suffered on the job in 2004.AThe arbitrator denied the claim, and the Commission unanimously affirmed. In Illinois, judicial review of a decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission is initiated by filing a request for the issuance of summons and an attorney's affidavit of payment of the probable cost of the record with the Circuit Court clerk.AThe governing provision of the Act provides that a proceeding for judicial review must be "commenced" within 20 days of receipt of notice of the decision.A 820 ILCS 305/19(f)(1) .ACounsel for the worker allegedly mailed the request and counsel affidavit fourteen days after receiving notice.ABut for whatever reason, it wasn't received in the court clerk's office until twenty-four days after notice.ASo -- which act "commenced" the proceeding -- mailing or receipt?AA divided six-Justice panel of the Workers' Compensation Commission Division of the Appellate Court found that the Circuit Court had no jurisdiction over the administrative appeal, holding that since the issue was governed by a statute rather than a court rule, the courts had no authority to extend the mailbox rule to "commencing" judicial review. The Supreme Court reversed.AThe court began by acknowledging that the usual presumption of jurisdiction in the Circuit Courts isn't available in workers' comp -- there, the steps set forth in the statutory had to be strictly adhered to in order to vest the Circuit Court with jurisdiction over the appeal.AHowever, unlike the Appellate Court, the Supreme Court majority found the word "commence" in the statute ambiguous.AThe next step after the plain language, of course, is the legislative history.AThere was nothing in the legislative history suggesting an intent to apply the mailbox rule; but then again, there was nothing suggesting an intent to disallow it either. So the Court turned to the earliest decisions applying the mailbox rule and contrasted them with cases refusing to apply the rule.AThe court concluded that the cases were explained by a simple distinction: when an act began an entirely new proceeding, the mailbox rule never applied.AWhen it merely continued a proceeding, the mailbox rule did apply.AThat rule resolved the problem at hand: judicial review of a workers' compensation decision was clearly the continuation of an ongoing proceeding, not the beginning of a new one.ASo - particularly given that there was no issue of lack of notice of the claim, given that it had already passed through the arbitrator and the Commission -- there was no reason the mailbox rule couldn't apply, just as it did at the first step (appeal of the arbitrator's decision to the Commission) and third step (appeal from the Circuit Court to the Appellate Court) of the process.AThe fact that a statute governed the issue made no difference; the majority observed that courts had made no distinction between statutes and rules in determining when the rule did and didn't apply.AThe majority conceded that the legislature had not expressly imposed the mailbox rule in Section 19(f)(1), but observed that the legislature hadn't disallowed its application either.
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Quinn makes workers compensation appointments

aHe will be a wonderful addition to our staff and help us continue to grow the Instituteas revenues and impact in an increasing number of states.a McClain comes to WCRI from his last position as the Chief Executive Officer of the Arkansas Workersa Compensation Commission where he oversaw the operations of the agencyas 12 divisions. He is also a past president of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards & Commissions (IAIABC). aItas an honor to be joining WCRI,a said Alan. aAs someone who has been working with workersa compensation for over 25 years, I am well aware of WCRIas work and its reputation. I have used their research often and look forward to sharing this research with public officials and stakeholders across the country.a ABOUT WCRI: The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Cambridge, MA. Founded in 1983, WCRI is recognized as a leader in providing high-quality, credible, and objective information about public policy issues involving workers' compensation systems. WCRI's diverse membership includes employers; insurers; governmental entities; managed care companies; health care providers; insurance regulators; state labor organizations; and state administrative agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
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Illinois Supreme Court Extends Mailbox Rule to Judicial Review of Workers' Comp Commission

In 2011, Governor Quinn championed and signed into law historic workers' compensation reform legislation to overhaul the system in Illinois. Today's announcement continues the Governor's commitment to making Illinois government more efficient, accountable and effective. These individuals have years of professional experience that will benefit the Illinois workers compensation program, Governor Quinn said. I am pleased to appoint these arbitrators and a commissioner who will work for the people of Illinois to resolve workers compensation cases in a manner which treats injured workers with respect and ensures that employers in Illinois receive a fair and efficient resolution to claims. The reforms signed into law by Governor Quinn in 2011 called on the Governor to appoint new arbitrators to the Commission, considering the recommendations made by the Workers Compensation Advisory Board, which is a body composed of six members representing the employer community and six members representing employees and working people in Illinois. Arbitrators at the Commission are responsible for ruling on claims filed by employees who suffer an injury at work. The law requires that all newly-appointed arbitrators must be attorneys and that both arbitrators and Commissioners are subject to the ethical rules and requirements followed by Illinois judges.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.workerscompensation.com/compnewsnetwork/mobile/news/17262-il-gov-appoints-three-new-workers-compensation-arbitrators-and-one-new-commissioner.html

IL Gov Appoints Three New Workers' Compensation Arbitrators and One New Commissioner

The average lost time work comp claim in the U.S. without the use of opioids cost $13,000. When an employee is prescribed a short-acting opioid like Percocet, the average lost time claim cost triples to $39,000. When an employee is prescribed a long-acting opioid like oxycontin, the average lost time claim costs explodes to $117,000, an increase of 900% over the average lost time work comp claim without the use of any opioids. Highly Addictive Drug Use & Overdose Deaths Have Seen Sharp Increase Opioids are highly addictive. This usually results in a change of motivation within the injured employee. The employees focus of recovery from the injury is replaced with a focus on obtaining more of the opioid. The long term use of opioids results in a sub-conscious (or sometimes even a conscious) desire not to recover from the injury and stay off work to use the opioid. Opioid addiction is treated withadditional drugs, buprenorphine and naltrexone. The cost of getting addicted employees off of opioids adds to the overall cost of the workers compensation claim. The use of buprenorphine and naltrexone has risen from near zero prescriptions in 2002 to nearly 8 million prescriptions in 2012.
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Workers Compensation Claim Costs Skyrocket With Use of Opioids

Email | Twitter | LinkedIn | Google+ Californiaas system for injured workers could wind up paying out a heck of a lot more now that the American Medical Association has reclassified obesity as a treatable disease. The reclassification could have far-reaching implications for the workersa compensation system, according to a report released this week. aThe operational and economic consequences could be significant for medical providers and health care delivery systems that must now reconcile implementation of the new disease category, an evolving standard of care for obese patients, managed care issues concerning medical efficacy and cost/benefit considerations, as well as coordination of care challenges between workersa compensation, group health and federal programs and requirements. ...a the California Workersa Compensation Institute wrote in a summary of its report. In the workersa comp system, obesity typically has been a condition that was independent of a work injury or illness, the organization said. Sometimes obesity does wind up adding to workersa comp costs in a roundabout way, such as if an obese injured worker has to lose weight before having surgery on a hurt back or knee, according to the institute. In a 2011 survey of 20,000 Californians who had filed workersa comp claims, 28 percent called themselves obese, but obesity factored into less than 1 percent of the claims. aWith obesity reclassified as a medical disease, physicians may now feel greater responsibility to advise obese patients about how their weight may affect their recovery, and to provide treatment, especially since health care payers will face greater pressure to cover such care,a the institute said. Page 1
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