|
 The
Senate now has two
plans from which to choose.
The Illinois House voted Friday to pass a measure that would dismantle
the state's workers' compensation system. Sponsored by state Rep.
John Bradley, D-Marion,
Senate Bill 1933 was sent back to the Senate
for concurrence on a 65-48 vote.
Bradley said his measure adds a second viable option to another
workers' compensation proposal in the Senate. That plan,
House Bill
1698, is supported by Gov. Pat Quinn and is being pushed by Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago.
"Either one of those could become law in the state of Illinois and
either one ... provide significant reform to a broken system, ... the
workers' compensation system," Bradley said.
The measure would repeal
the state's Workers' Compensation Act and the Workers' Occupational
Diseases Act, and send the state's nearly 50,000 cases to be decided
in circuit courts.
The state also would save between $500 million and $700 million,
Bradley said.
State Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Highland, said the proposal was more
than an option -- it was a "viable threat."
"We can't do nothing. The (only) option is we go right back to work,
we go right back to negotiating, ... we put in
reasonable, real reform," McCarter said.
McCarter's complaints echo those of opponents who claim that the
plan to "blow up" the workers' compensation system is actually a
political ploy to get them to agree to a weaker set of reforms in
Raoul's plan.
"I think it is an intriguing move in the ongoing legislative chess
game that elected officials play on major public policy issues as if
there were no consequences," said Doug Whitley, president of the
Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
Under Raoul's plan, doctors would be paid 30 percent less for those
filing workers' compensation claims and reduce the amount of time
workers can receive the maximum benefit of 66.5 percent of their
average weekly salary.
Howard Peters, a lobbyist with the Illinois Hospital Association,
said reducing physician pay by 30 percent is unfair. The hospital
and health system advocacy group would rather see a smaller cut,
between 15 percent and 20 percent.
"If you don't pay a reasonable amount, the more skilled surgeons,
the more skilled physicians will not participate (and) can't afford
to participate, so it has a real disadvantage to injured workers,"
Peters said.
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Whitley said lawmakers can't please everyone, but completely
destroying a system that can be fixed is not the answer.
"Blowing up the worker's compensation as Rep. Bradley is proposing
would create chaos in the state and would send the wrong signal to
everyone outside the state of Illinois," Whitley said. "It basically
says our political leaders cannot adequately deal with critical
public policy issues like fixing workers' compensation and improving
the economic jobs climate in their state."
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce officially is neutral on Raoul's
plan, saying it doesn't go far enough.
"If we support (HB 1698), then it would give the impression that we
fixed workers' comp. And we don't think that's true," Whitley said.
Raoul expects to call his measure Saturday.
Either way, he said, "I'll have two options."
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By MELISSA LEU]
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