Legislation

The House Special Committee on Workers' Compensation Reform is scheduled to meet tomorrow in Bloomington-Normal at 1:00 p.m. and in Mt. Vernon on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. The postings for these hearings may be found here.

The Senate and House have created special committees to review and recommend changes in Illinois' Workers' Compensation system before the 96th General Assembly adjourns on Jan. 12, 2011. The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 8, at the Thompson Center in Chicago at 10:00 in Room 16-503. The Senate has posted some of the written testimony received by some of the groups that have appeared, which may be found here. The business community's recommendations include the following: (1) Require causation that the accident was the prevailing factor in causing the medical condition or disability. (2) Change the rules on wage-loss differential awards. (3) Change the medical fee schedule. (4) Allow employers to choose the treating physician. (5) Require use of the AMA guidelines for ratings of disability.

The Senate and House have created two special committees to study changes in the workers' compensation laws hoping to have legislation prepared in early January before the 96th General Assembly adjourns. The committees are evenly divided between the Democrats and Republicans. The Senate committee meets today at 1 p.m. in Springfield and the House Friday in Chicago at 1:30 in the Bilandic Building.

If you do any estate planning or have older family members, you may want to read this post. Your world may be dramatically changed if the proposed rules implementing the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 are approved. These rules are being proposed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) and drastically change Medicaid eligibility. HFS characterizes them simply as an effort to "close loopholes." Read on; you be the judge. Our Elder Law Section Council thinks that these proposed rules are unfair and unjust to seniors, people with disabilities, and their families. The Section presented testimony in opposition to these proposed rules at the hearing conducted by HFS this morning. To summarize, the Section believes that HFS' proposed rules are more restrictive and punitive than what is required by federal law. An example is the part that makes these changes retroactive -- changing the rules late in a senior's life. HFS stated that they were interested in hearing from people to better evaluate their proposed rules and plans to hold another hearing in Springfield on Sept. 28. HFS does have the legal authority to amend these rules before final submission to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. The 12 legislators appointed to serve on JCAR have the final say on proposed rules.