Workers’ comp bill: businesses gain, doctors lose

Suburban businesses will be helped and suburban doctors and hospitals will be hurt as a result of the workers’ compensation reform bill passed by the state legislature, those familiar with the legislation say.

The bill, which Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign into law, would slash the medical fee schedule by 30 percent, thus reducing medical costs paid out for workers’ compensation claims and leading to lower insurance premiums. It’s estimated to save Illinois businesses $500 million a year.

Businesses can use the savings to expand or hire more employees, which in turn would bolster the local economy, said Greg Baise, president and CEO of the Oak Brook-based Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.

“The taxpayer is a winner here, which is why you saw municipalities and counties supporting it,” he said.

However, local doctors say slashing medical costs is not the solution to the problem-plagued system. Drastically cutting medical reimbursements will only discourage doctors from accepting workers’ compensation cases, medical professionals say.

Currently, doctors are reimbursed slightly more for workers’ compensation cases than standard cases, because workers’ comp cases involve time-consuming report- and letter-writing, frequent communication with insurance companies, and counseling patients who sometimes are also facing emotional issues related to their injuries, said Dr. Pietro Tonino, director of sports medicine at Loyola University Health System in Maywood.

Dr. Matthew Jimenez, an orthopedic surgeon at the Illinois Bone & Joint Institute in Morton Grove and president of the Illinois Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, says the law will not induce doctors to decrease the quality of care they provide, but the reduced fees will be another straw on the camel’s back, as doctors already face skyrocketing costs of practicing medicine in the state.

“This fee reduction really can hurt patients by stressing the system,” Jimenez said. “The legislation was meant to keep trial lawyers, labor, and business happy. Rather than taking $500 million out of the system and putting it on the backs of caregivers only, everyone should have given in a little bit.”

To workers’ compensation insurance agent Dennis Powers, of Lamb Little & Co. in Schaumburg, an interesting aspect of the bill is that, for the first time, physicians will determine the level of an injured worker’s impairment, rather than it being negotiated by lawyers.

“It could potentially change the business climate around here,” Powers said. “Insurance carriers are the winners, because they’ll be paying less in claims overall with this.”

Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Doug Whitley said the new law doesn’t adequately address all of the workers’ comp issues frustrating businesses, but he still described the legislation as “a step forward.”

In the current political climate, it may have been the only possible option, said workers’ compensation attorney Matthew Belcher.

“It could be worse, but it could be better,” said Belcher. “I wish we didn’t have to balance the budget on the backs of injured workers. ... It’s a compromise where no one’s really happy.”