Gov. Quinn Signs Workers' Comp Changes into Law

On June 29, 2011, Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn signed Workers' Compensation Act House Bill 1698 into law. The bill, sponsored by Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, and John Bradley, D-Marion, rewrites Illinois' Workers' Compensation Act. Most of the new law's provisions will go into effect on Sept. 1, 2011. Among those measures are the following:

• Employees are now required to prove by a preponderance of evidence that the accidental injuries were sustained on the job or arose out of the course of employment.
• Hand injuries are capped 190 weeks.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome compensation may not exceed 15% loss of use of a hand unless cause is shown otherwise by clear and convincing evidence, in which case the award may not exceed 30% loss of use of the hand.
• Authorization of a Preferred Provider Network of physicians will now qualify the injured worker's right to have two separate choices of medical providers. If an injured employee refuses to be treated by the employer-directed PPO network, that refusal counts as his or her first choice of physician.
• Physicians are required to use the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment in determining impairment level. The new law also creates criteria for the physician to use in an evaluation.
• The Workers' Compensation Commission is required to base its determination of a PPD on the following criteria:
  • The reported level of impairment by the physician
  • The employee's occupation
  • The employee's age at the time of injury
  • The employee's future earning capacity
  • Evidence of disability corroborated by the treating medical records
  No single criterion may be the sole determinant of disability
• Charges for implants are to be reduced to 25% above the net manufacturer's invoice price and shipping costs minus any rebates.
• The creation of 4 geo-zip regions for the Illinois fee schedule, effective Jan. 1, 2012.
• Reduction of the fee schedule by 30% for any medical services rendered after Sept. 1, 2011.
• Payments for out-of-state medical services are to follow that state's fee schedule. If that state doesn't have a fee schedule, then payment for medical services is the lesser of the actual charge or the amount of the Illinois fee schedule where the employee resides.
• A wage differential award is effective only until the employee reaches 67 years of age or five years from the date of the award becomes final, whichever is later.
• Utilization-review evaluations will now include nationally recognized treatment guidelines and evidence-based medicine.
• An employee may not be compensated if his or her intoxication is the proximate cause of injury or if her or she was so intoxicated that it consisted of a departure from the employment.
• All arbitrators were terminated effective July 1, 2011, but they will continue to serve until reappointed or until their successors are appointed.
• All future arbitrators must be licensed Illinois attorneys.
• Each hearing site will include at least three different arbitrators, and the cases will be assigned on a random basis. Every two years, a continuing case will be assigned to a different arbitrator.
• Attorneys are prohibited from giving gifts to someone for referring a case to them unless it is food and drink less $75 per day.
• Extensive reporting requirements for insurance carriers have been added through the bill.
• Approval is given to initiate a pilot program in which workers' compensation is collectively bargained.

If you are injured in a work-related accident, or suffer from what you believe to be a work illness or injury, contact an attorney at Adler & Adler, P.C. We will help you fight for the Illinois workers' compensation you deserve.