As John D. Cooney, current President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association pointed out in a recent summary of the findings on insurance savings in the State of Illinois, our State had the steepest reduction in workers’ compensation rates (24%) between 2012 and 2014. If the companies who insure employers in our State had followed the National Council on Compensation Insurance guidelines, employers here could have realized an additional $1 billion in premium reductions. Instead, the insurance companies pocketed the savings while disingenuously blaming our claims system and supporting Governor-elect Rauner is threatening to further destroy the protections in place for injured workers and their families.
When will the public wake up to the ruse that insurers continue to foist on us? The problem is not with the claims systems. Injury claims in the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission have been steadily decreasing and the costs of those claims steadily declining. In the matter of civil lawsuits, those filed in Illinois have dropped by nearly 25%, as President Cooney points out. Further, injury claims make up just 6% of those lawsuits and business and insurance companies initiate most of the civil litigation in our courts–nearly 70% of the cases involve businesses suing each other or individuals for money.
Let’s hope that the new governor does not try to hide as the sheep in wolf’s clothing here. The problem is with insurers and businesses who profit at the expense of hard-working individuals and small business owners and not with “the system”. It is laughable that they argue for less regulation when what is needed is more policing of their greedy behavior. People over profits should be the mantra, not dismantling the limited systems in place to protect the individual members of the public. Don’t believe the wolves in sheep’s clothing out there. They are not looking out for your best interests.