Mississippi Passes Workers’ Compensation Changes

Mississippi legislators offered different views of a bill they passed to change the compensation system for workers injured on the job.

If Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signs the bill as is expected, it will become law July 1. The measure — SB 2576 — was pushed by the Mississippi Manufacturers Association and other business groups. It passed the House 63-56 and the Senate 31-15.

Supporters, including Rep. Mark Formby, R-Picayune, said the bill is a way to bring balance to a system that has favored injured workers. He said the changes might reduce employers’ premiums for workers’ compensation insurance.

“To me, it’s a lot more about fairness than it is about payments,” Formby said.

Opponents said the changes would make it difficult for injured workers to receive compensation.

“What this legislation boils down to is a direct assault on the working class people in the state of Mississippi,” said Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens. “If this bill becomes law, what it’s going to do is place burdens on our workers that no other state in the union places on theirs.”

The bill does make some small changes that supporters said would help workers. A spouse of a worker killed on the job could receive $1,000 under the new plan, up from the current $250. Funeral benefits go from $2,000 to $5,000. And the weekly payment for an injured worker for rehabilitation would go from $10 to $25.

The bill blocks compensation to a worker who is found to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, including the improper use of legal prescription drugs, when an on-the-job injury occurs. Sen. Will Longwitz, R-Madison, who supported the bill, said the provisions will allow employers to test intoxicated workers “without being worried about being dragged into court.”

The bill also sets a 60-day deadline for a worker who is hurt on the job to file medical records that support his claim for compensation. Current law doesn’t mention a deadline.

It also would allow a partial reduction in payments to any injured worker with pre-existing conditions such as a bad back.

Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, who opposed the bill, said back injuries are common and if workers’ compensation doesn’t cover them, then taxpayers will end up doing so under Medicaid, Medicare, or payments for hospital emergency rooms.