Steve Schneider, Midwest region vice president for the American Insurance Association (AIA), issued a statement to the Illinois Senate Executive Committee on SB 12, workers’ compensation reform legislation, stating that the act could be counterproductive and recommended some solutions.
“The reforms contained in SB 12 represent a mixed bag of modest reforms to the state’s workers’ compensation system,” Schneider said in his testimony before the committee last week. “While we support the effort to reform Illinois’ workers’ compensation system, SB 12 has the potential to be counterproductive. We believe that there are four provisions which need to be addressed if they are to truly be beneficial.”
First, Schneider suggested setting aside the medical fee schedule in SB 12 in favor of one based on the federal Medicare reimbursement standard, but at a higher rate.
He also said more clarity in the closed drug formulary should be required to effectively address the costs of prescription drugs.
“Third, SB 12 calls for the electronic transmittal of certain claim information and payment of medical bills within an extremely short time frame,” Schneider said. “This raises the potential for penalties with little benefit to others. We recommend leaving the statue as is.”
Finally, SB 12 should have representation from the insurance industry on the proposed Workers’ Compensation Edit, Alignment and Reform Commission, he said.
“Insurers pay seventy-five percent of the workers’ compensation claims in the state and should have a seat at the table. We question why trial lawyers have a seat, but the industry does not,” Schneider said.