Illinois Governor Vetoes Workers’ Comp Bills Opposed by Insurers

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed two workers’ compensation reform bills that were strongly opposed by the insurance industry.

Rauner in August vetoed HB 2622 and HB2525, two bills that would have had profound negative consequences for injured workers, the business community and the state’s economic competitiveness, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI)

HB 2622 would have created the Illinois Employers Mutual Insurance Co. by allowing the director of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Operations Fund to make a loan of $10,000,000 for the initial capitalization of the company as a nonprofit, independent public corporation, according the legislative synopsis of the bill.

Under the bill, Illinois Employers Mutual would have been established as a domestic mutual insurance company, the sole purpose of which would be to provide workers’ compensation coverage. Except for the initial loan amount, no additional state funds would have been allotted to the company.

Applauding Rauner’s veto of HB2622, Jeffrey Junkas, assistant vice president state government relations for the PCI, said in a statement that “House Bill 2622 would have injected Illinois into the insurance business by creating in essence, a state fund called the Illinois Employers Mutual Insurance Company (IEMIC) to provide workers compensation insurance in Illinois.”

HB2525 would have required pre-approval of workers’ comp insurance rates. The legislative analysis stated that under HB2525, a workers’ comp premium rate “is excessive if it is likely to produce a long run profit that is unreasonably high for the insurance provided or if expenses are unreasonably high in relation to the services rendered.”

PCI said House Bill 2525 would have established a burdensome regulatory price and profit control scheme.