A doctor's experience with workers' comp

Recently, The Daily Herald published commentary from Steve Schneider, American Insurance Institute, outlining steps Illinois should take on workers' compensation. This a rebuttal from the point of a view of a medical provider who has taken care of over 19,000 injured Illinois workers over the course of my career and as an employer who operates a small business with 25 employees.

Mr. Schneider objects to the creation of the Illinois Employers Mutual Insurance Company, a not-for-profit workers' compensation insurance company, when there already 323 insurers vying for Illinois business. Illinois is the No. 1 market for carriers because of the record profits they have made since the 2011 reform that cut medical reimbursement rates by 30 percent and enacted provisions to deny medical treatment and benefits to injured workers.

According to a National Academy of Social Insurance study, between 2011 and 2015, Illinois experienced a 19.3 percent decrease in benefits paid, the second-largest decrease across the country whereas total benefits paid in the rest of the U.S. increased by 2 percent over the same period.

Yet, these tremendous cost savings have not been passed down to Illinois employers. For example, in my own medical practice, my workers' comp premiums have risen every year for my small business despite one claim in 10 years.

While the surgical fees in Illinois rates are high compared to Medicare, the reimbursement for office visits, the most commonly performed service in Illinois, actually ranks the state seventh lowest in the country right now, according to the Workers' Compensation Research Institute, with doctors receiving only 88 percent of the national median reimbursement.

Workers' compensation costs are declining and are under control in Illinois. Only when the 323 workers' comp carriers pass on the savings will the business climate in Illinois further improve.

David Fletcher

Champaign