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Two new reports show Illinois has a ways to go

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Illinois

* Press release…

The claim costs and other metrics of 18 state workers’ compensation systems are analyzed in depth in a new series of studies, CompScope™ Benchmarks, 17th Edition, released by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).

“The research can help policymakers and other stakeholders identify current cost drivers and emerging trends in a wide variety of workers’ compensation system components,” said Ramona Tanabe, WCRI’s executive vice president and counsel.

The studies examine trends in workers’ compensation medical and indemnity payments in a number of states with significant changes, either through new laws or through court rulings. They also examine how income benefits, medical payments, duration of disability, litigiousness, and benefit delivery expenses changed over time, and they compare how these measures differ from state to state.

The following are sample findings for some of the study states:

California: Total costs per claim remained stable between 2010 (claims with experience through March 2013) and 2013 (claims with experience through March 2016), likely reflecting the impact of Senate Bill 863.

Florida: Total costs per claim grew moderately from 2010 to 2015, but two 2016 Florida Supreme Court decisions are expected to increase workers’ compensation system costs.

Illinois: Total costs per claim decreased 6.4 percent since 2010, reflecting the impact of a 30 percent reduction in fee schedule rates for medical services.

Indiana: Total costs per claim decreased 4 percent from 2014 to 2015, the result of a nearly 10 percent decrease in medical payments, partly offset by a nearly 5 percent increase in indemnity benefits per claim. Those changes are likely related to provisions of House Enrolled Act 1320, which enacted a hospital fee schedule and increased income benefits paid to injured workers.

More here.

* Meanwhile, Greg Hinz looks at the latest Anderson Economic Group study…

According to the report, in 2015, the most recent year for which figures are available, Illinois business paid 9.4 percent of profits in state and local taxes.

The rate was lower in other Midwest states, including Indiana at 7 percent, ranking fifth; Missouri, 7 percent, sixth; and Ohio 7.3 percent, ninth. Michigan was 16th and Wisconsin 24th, with rates of 8 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively. All of them now have GOP governors who have pushed through tax cuts.

In the Midwest, only Minnesota had a higher business tax burden than Illinois: 9.7 percent of profits, or 32nd.

Nationally, Illinois’ rank of 30th is an improvement over last year’s 32nd. That appears to be due largely to the repeal of the Quinn hikes, which took effect mid-fiscal 2015. […]

Illinois ranked dead in the middle—26th—in terms of the share of the total tax burden paid by business. But again, the state’s 39.4 percent share was higher than the Midwest average, though interestingly tied with Indiana.

The full report is here.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 10:30 am

Comments

Minnesota’s economy is on fire and they have a higher tax rate. Can we stop kidding ourselves into believing tax rates are the most important factor or close to it in economic performance?

Comment by Chicago Cynic Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 10:35 am
Work Comp costs “decreased” in Illinois??

Comment by Not Rich Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 10:37 am
Minnesota also taxes retirement income and has 1/2 the property tax that’s here.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 10:44 am
Let’s examine some of the ethics at play here.
Corporate profit (beyond a certain point given reserves, operating costs and market strategy and position)

is a want

This is played against an injured workers

NECESSITY of workers compensation to
(given circumstances)

Survive.

The vast majority of WC claimants NEED those payments to survive, to feed themselves and their families.

Not a WANT a NEED.

An increase in Corporate profits are a WANT.

Trickle down is a lie.
A rising tide lifts all boats is a lie.

Corporations DO NOT pass on savings and profits
to workers.

PROVEN! Have wages increased in the past few decades? Corporations are more profitable than ever before in human history.

What do they do with that profit.

HIDE IT IN TAX EVADING INSTRUMENTS and LOCATIONS

I have no sympathy for greedy corporations.

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 10:52 am
According to NCCI, the official rating organization, IL workers’ compensation loss costs have decreased by over 25% since 2011 and WC insurance rates have decreased by over 30% since 2011. According to an Oregon study, the IL WC index rate has decreased by over 26% since 2010. And it is not just decreased medical costs that drives these reductions. Indemnity compensation to injured workers has also decreased by anywhere from 11% to 32% since 2010, depending on how it is measured, according to 2016 IL Dept. of Insurance oversight report.

Comment by The Real Just Me Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 10:59 am
==Minnesota’s economy is on fire and they have a higher tax rate.==

Minnesota taxes retirement income.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 11:12 am
== Have wages increased in the past few decades? Corporations are more profitable than ever before in human history.What do they do with that profit.

HB I don’t know where to begin; your comment is so full of opinion based assumptions. First corp’s only exist to the extent that they can prove profitable to the owner/shareholders - that is not a want but an economic reality. As far as Corp profits - there are many items in the expenditures line of a companies P/L statement - just to name a few, cost of raw materials, utilities, benefits, insurance, legal,.. so despite your simplistic view wages, are not the only determining factor in profitability. Take a look at Dun& Bradstreet’s Key Business ratios if you want the proof. I could go on but I don’t wish to be bothersome.

Comment by Texas Red Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 11:15 am
Allocating ALL Public Utility Taxes to Business, means higher population States will be less Business friendly. We all pay State utility fees on our electric, gas, and telephones. It appears just this one bias is enough to make this report flawed. There are other examples. Go have a read.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 11:19 am
To echo Honeybear, there is no evidence that the workers comp insurance companies have passed on any of these reductions to employers in the form of decreased insurance premiums. In fact, employers seem to be reporting WC insurance premium increases instead. And those same insurance companies are reporting increased profits.

Comment by The Real Just Me Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 11:27 am
Whoa!! Honey. Not so fast. WC is a huge burden on mom/pop institutions as well. There are things that should be done which will not harm legit work place injuries.

Comment by blue dog dem Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 1:02 pm
Yes, Blue Dog, the number one thing that would help Mom & Pop businesses would be to figure out how to reduce WC insurance premiums. Virtually all small & medium sized businesses are insured for WC liability, so you can cut compensation to legitimately injured workers all you want, but if you don’t force the insurance companies to lower premiums, then Mom & Pop don’t get any help. And please don’t give me that “free-market competition will lower premiums” stuff. Federal anti-collusion laws do not apply to insurance companies and almost all insurance companies use the same rate making organization to set the same insurance rates. And competition has not proven effective to reduce premiums up until now even though costs have gone down dramatically.

Comment by The Real Just Me Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 2:48 pm
Real Me. Question to you. And I don’t know the answer. What makes Illinois susceptible to these insurance abuses. It appears other states can bypass the insurance companies and get WC relief passed down. I do agree that much of the insurance propoganda is just that, but this much I know. 18% of $100 is more than 18% of $90.

Comment by blue dog dem Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 3:23 pm
I certainly do not pretend to be an insurance expert or to have all or even most of the answers, but I believe it has something to do with how IL regulates insurance carriers. The regulatory focus seems to be on making sure premiums are high enough to avoid insurance carrier instability and insolvency, and not on whether premiums are too high based on loss costs and rates. Or something like that. But every time one asks the insurance experts for an explanation, one gets some version of this answer: “This is all done by actuaries and they have super-human intelligence, so you mere mortals just wouldn’t understand.” The insurance industry has not and maybe cannot answer the simple question, “Has average premium per worker gone up or down?”,let alone how much.

Comment by The Real Just Me Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 3:53 pm
The Real Just Me - do you have a link to NCCI that shows the percentages you mentioned? That would help in refuting the common narrative that WC is too high in Illinois and that the previously-passed reforms are having the intended effect.

Comment by Name Withheld Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 4:11 pm
Real. Thanks. You helped. But as Word tells me, i am a huckleberry.

Comment by Blue dog dem Tuesday, Apr 18, 17 @ 5:37 pm
When Word can’t attack the substance of your argument, he resorts to an ad hominem attack. A clear sign he has lost

Comment by Lucky Pierre Wednesday, Apr 19, 17 @ 5:13 am
It takes a little digging but all the rate filings are at the NCCI website. For example here is a link. And I hope I am doing this right.

https://www.ncci.com/Articles/Pages/II_Summary_Filing_Information_by_State.aspx

In addition the IL Dept. of Insurance WC Oversight report also has useful information about how medical and indemnity costs have decreased.

http://insurance.illinois.gov/wcfu/2016WorkCompReportFinal.pdf

Comment by The Real Just Me Wednesday, Apr 19, 17 @ 6:35 am