Quinn wants to revamp Workers' Compensation Commission

Amid a federal investigation of potential workers' compensation abuses, Gov. Pat Quinn's administration on Friday proposed systemwide changes to prevent possible malfeasance and save employers money.

The issue also is getting a lot of attention because Illinois is fighting a reputation as a place bad for business after Democratic lawmakers passed an income tax increase in January.

Among Quinn's proposals is a 30 percent cut in payments to medical providers who treat people injured on the job, a reduction the administration estimates could save employers up to $500 million but still generously compensate health care workers.

Quinn also wants to revamp the Workers' Compensation Commission and that includes adding the requirement that arbitrators who decide claims be licensed attorneys and that the Court of Claims, and not arbitrators, decide when claims involve commission appointees or their employees.

Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed claims information and five years' of email and personnel records for commission arbitrators and other state employees. The demand for records comes after the Belleville News-Democrat reported in December that more than half the staff at the Menard Correctional Center in Chester had been paid nearly $10 million in awards for work-related injuries. The newspaper also has raised questions about commission arbitrators, several of whom have received their own workers' compensation settlements.

"We really have to look at the whole workman compensation system," Quinn said earlier Friday.

Insurance Department Director Michael McRaith, one of the administration officials who unveiled Quinn's proposals, acknowledged the changes won't be an easy sell and the Illinois State Medical Society was quick to push back.

"There's no way," society president Dr. Steven Malkin said when told of Quinn's proposed cut in payments to health care providers. Malkin said treating workers' compensation cases is time consuming for doctors because it requires a lot of paperwork and is often a more complex process because lawyers are typically involved.

McRaith said the administration wants to tackle the problem of paperwork by requiring insurers to accept electronic billing from providers.

Quinn is in a hurry to pass workers compensation changes and he would like lawmakers to have changes approved by Easter, said his senior adviser Jerry Stermer. Stermer said discussions about workers compensation changes have been ongoing in Springfield among lawmakers and others with a stake in the process.

"It's really important . to have both significant savings, as well as fairness for workers. Those are the twin pillars, the values that I think everybody believes in," Stermer said.

Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont said she was glad Quinn is focused on workers compensation but any eventual changes need to go farther.

"What we see so far ignores what we have heard from the job creators. There must be some standards in Illinois law that requires a demonstration that the workplace actually caused or aggravated a worker's condition and some standards to determine disability. Without that, these cases are nearly impossible to defend against those workers or unscrupulous lawyers who want to game the system - at employers' expense," Radogno said in a statement.

Illinois Chamber of Commerce head Doug Whitley agreed. Otherwise, he said, "we're still going to have thousands of questionable claims being filed."

McRaith said Quinn's proposals don't include definitions of injuries or accidents.

"Any proposal is going to be too much for one side or not enough for the other side. The governor said identify the problems, target the problems and that's what we've tried to do," said McRaith, who's leaving in June to take a post in President Barack Obama's administration.