Legislature Approves Fix to Second Injury Fund and Workers' Compensation (SB 1)

One extremely important piece of legislation that is on its way to the governor’s
desk would fix the state’s bankrupt Second Injury Fund that is responsible for
compensating disabled workers who are re-injured on the job. The fund currently
has a balance of $9.3 million but owes more than $32 million in payments to
more than 1,200 disabled Missourians. While it is worrisome enough that the
fund can’t meet its obligations to workers already in the system, those numbers
don’t include the more than 30,000 new claims that have been put on hold. When
you add everything up, the picture is incredibly bleak for the Second Injury
Fund and the disabled workers it is meant to serve.

This is a problem the legislature has attempted to fix in each of the last several
years. Unfortunately, the proposals to fix the fund have not made it through
the legislative process for one reason or another – until now. The bill we
approved this year would temporarily increase the surcharge that businesses pay
on their workers’ compensation insurance premiums to generate the funds
necessary to settle the thousands of claims that are currently pending.
Specifically, the bill would allow the surcharge to be increased from 3 percent
to 6 percent for the years 2014 through 2021. The additional funds raised by
this increase would allow the fund to pay off the outstanding claims. The bill
also would keep claims from spiraling out of control in the future by providing
coverage through the fund only to the most serious work-related disabilities.
With this, we can ensure the Second Injury Fund serves its intended purpose.

Another important fix contained in the bill would reverse court rulings that have
removed work-related illnesses from the workers’ compensation system. The
rulings directly contradict a 2005 law that reformed our workers’ compensation
system, which is meant to provide guaranteed benefits to injured or ill employees while holding down costs for employers. The end result is that work-related illnesses are now handled by the courts where employers are vulnerable to costly lawsuits. The bill we approved would move these illnesses back into the workers’ compensation system where they were meant to be. It is a move that will give employees who develop an illness on the job a guaranteed benefit while also ensuring Missouri employers can afford to stay in business.

It is important to understand this is not a perfect bill. As one of my colleagues
said on the floor, each member of the legislature probably sees something in
the bill they don’t like. But what it does do is provide a fix for our Second Injury Fund that has been desperately needed for years, and it gives employers and employees some certainty when dealing with work-related illnesses. All in all, I believe it represents a good compromise and a step in the right direction for both workers and business owners here in our state.