News

Emergency rules filed on implants, ASTCs

Medical treatment on or after July 6, 2010 should be paid according to the following new rules:

A revised Instructions & Guidelines has been posted.

Throughout 2009, the WCMFAB and Commission staff worked on the fee schedule report to the General Assembly. We invited input from outside groups, and several did make presentations to the board. The final report to the General Assembly was posted on our website and emailed to the 1,200 individuals in our group emails news service. That report indicated, among other things, the board's consensus that the implant and ASTC rules should be changed.

On July 6, 2010, the Commission filed the emergency rules with the Illinois Secretary of State for publication in the Illinois Register. Simultaneously, the Commission filed the same language to go through the normal rule-making process.

Comments about the amendments should be submitted in writing by August 30 to: d

Darrell Widen
Assistant General Counsel
Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission
8-281 JRTC
100 W. Randolph St.
Chicago, IL 60601
312-814-8770
darrell.widen@illinois.gov

revised 7/16/10; posted 7/8/10

Arbitrators covering for Commissioner DeMunno

Commissioner DeMunno is out due to an illness. We wish him a speedy recovery. In his absence, Arbitrator Carlson will cover the July 8 oral arguments in Chicago. Arbitrator Fratianni will cover the July 28 and 29 oral arguments in Springfield.

posted 6/30/10

More open house dates announced

You are invited to an open house at the Chicago Commission office on one of the following dates:  July 14, September 8, or November 9.  There is no charge to attend, but registration is limited. To sign up, please send an email with the subject "open house" to susan.piha@illinois.gov

The Commission first announced an open house in Chicago in January 2010, and the seats filled up on the day it was announced.  The programs in February, April, May, and June also filled up and were well-received. Visitors walk away with a greater understanding of how to interact with the Commission and work with the process.   

The program will run from 9 am to 12 noon. After an overview of our court process, visitors will observe arbitration hearings and review-level oral arguments. After oral arguments end, there will be a question-and-answer period with commissioners.

revised 6/29/10; posted 12/14/09

100-Year anniversary of workers' compensation to be celebrated

Workers' compensation was the first social insurance enacted in the US, i.e., a government program where risks are pooled and benefits are legally defined. Wisconsin passed the first constitutional workers' compensation law in 1911, followed closely the same year by Illinois.

In anticipation of the upcoming 100th anniversary, a centennial commission is planning various activities, and PBS is producing a documentary. More details will be announced as they become available. The centennial commission's website also includes a great 10-minute video of workers' comp history, created by high school students.

posted 6/17/10

FY09 Annual report online

The FY09 annual report is now available online. The report highlights the participation at the Commission of more business, labor, medical, and legal representatives than ever before; improved communications; and successful efforts to identify uninsured employers and pay the benefits of their injured workers.

posted 6/17/10
 

New arbitrator assignments take effect on Sept. 1

Chairman Mitch Weisz announced the following changes in arbitrator assignments, effective September 1st, 2010:

Arbitrator Erbacci will be assigned to take over the entire Waukegan call. This is a first step in trying to reduce the number of split calls.  Arbitrator Andros will remain in DeKalb and will take over Arbitrator Erbacci’s duties in Wheaton. 

Arbitrator Lee will cover Woodstock and one quarter of the Rockford call. Arbitrator Lammie will take over the Chicago call handled by Arbitrator Lee.

Arbitrator Fratianni will temporarily come to Chicago to handle the status call, pro se, and other matters currently handled by Arbitrator Lammie, whose long service in this area is appreciated. Chairman Weisz plans to capitalize on Arbitrator Fratianni’s years of experience to look for possible improvements. She will visit arbitration calls both in Chicago and downstate to help harvest ideas on best practices that we can work collaboratively to implement.

Additionally, effective January 1, 2011, the Lawrenceville call, one of the smallest calls in the state, will be discontinued. Those cases will be reassigned to Mattoon and Mt Vernon to minimize travel.

Bertha Parker is in the process of scouting a few new locations in sites such as Galesburg, Kankakee, and Belleville to determine if more economical, suitable, or reliable sites are available. If you have any suggestions for alternate locations, please contact Bertha Parker as soon as possible. As soon as the locations are nailed down, she will begin preparing the 2011 schedule.

posted 6/9/10

Commissioner Daniel Donohoo assigned to Panel A

Commissioner Donohoo will hear reviews in Chicago, Collinsville, and Mt. Vernon. Effective June 14, 2010, he will serve as the public member on Panel A, and Commissioner Dauphin will move to Panel B.

To accommodate these changes, two calendar changes were needed. On June 23, Commissioner Mason will cover the Chicago review call for Commissioner Dauphin. On June 30, Commissioner Lindsay will cover the Urbana review call for Commissioner Dauphin.

posted 5/21/10

Fee schedule created for Chicago/Niles ASTCs

Ambulatory surgical treatment centers in geozip 607 now have their own fee schedule. When the ASTC schedule was created in 2009, it was based on the hospital outpatient schedule. Because there is no hospital in 607, the ASTC schedule in that geozip defaulted to POC76.

Members of the Workers' Compensation Advisory Board have discussed their desire to avoid the POC76 default whenever possible. If a geozip does not have charge data, the law allows the Commission to use charges from other geozips to calculate fees.

Back in 2005, the Commission assigned all geozips into demographically and economically similar groups. Geozip 607 is assigned first to geozip 616. At the May 2010 meeting, the board recommended the adoption of the 616 schedule for geozip 607. Ingenix posted the fees on May 21, 2010.

Because a fee schedule is always evolving, and because we want to promote simple procedures, the Commission recommends that parties begin following the new schedule from the date it is posted.

posted 5/21/10

No cash, please

Effective immediately, payments for transcripts and summons shall be paid only by check or money order.  If, in an emergency, a party needs to pay cash, an accountant from our Fiscal Office will need to process the transaction.

posted 5/21/10

Commissioner Daniel Donohoo appointed

Governor Pat Quinn has appointed Daniel Donohoo as commissioner.  Commissioner Donohoo holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University, and a J.D. degree from Cooley Law School. He served as the Madison County Recorder of Deeds for 21 years, and operated his own accounting firm for 17 years. 

After completing the legally-required training, Commissioner Donohoo will be assigned a panel and hearing sites.

posted 5/14/10

Chairman Weisz confirmed

On May 7, 2010, the Senate confirmed Mitch Weisz as chairman. Governor Quinn had appointed Chairman Weisz on March 22, 2010.

Chairman Weisz holds a B.A. degree in History from Northwestern University and a J.D. degree from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. He worked as an attorney concentrating in workers' compensation for 25 years, and has banking and business experience.

posted 5/14/10

New Request for Hearing, arbitration decision forms, paragraphs posted

The Commission has posted new versions of the Request for Hearing (IC9) form, and five arbitration decision forms--regular, 19(b), 19(b-1), fatal, and nature and extent. In addition, we posted a list of boilerplate paragraphs that users can copy and paste into the order section of the decision.

The forms were revised by a forms committee of hearing officers, and the proposed changes were circulated among all arbitrators and commissioners. The committee standardized the forms, added text to reflect the fee schedule and other changes, added email fields, etc.

We will distribute the print version of the Request for Hearing form as soon as we get it from the printer. When the forms arrive, we will distribute them to all offices and to Downstate arbitrators. Until then, please print the form from the website.

Whenever we create a new form, we allow six months from the revision date for parties to make the transition.  After August 1, 2010, outdated forms may be returned to the filing party. 

To download the new forms, click here.  If you have any questions about the forms, click here. 

Note:   In order to allow users to tab through fields and have drop-down menus work, the Word forms must be protected.  You can unprotect the forms in order to modify the document.  To unprotect, go to Review/Protect document/Restrict formatting/Stop protection/ password = iwcc (lower case). If you want to re-protect the document, in order to tab through fields, click on “Editing restrictions” and you will be prompted to enter the password. You don’t have to enter the password. Click “ok.”

revised 2/23/10; posted 2/8/10

Clarification on expedited (19(b) and 19(b-1)) decision forms

Please note that the fact that an expedited (19(b) or 19(b-1)) petition was filed does not necessarily mean an expedited decision should be issued.

Administratively, an expedited decision form is one in which the arbitrator or commissioner

1) does not address permanency;
2) rules only on TTD, TPD, maintenance, or medical benefits; and
3) orders that the case shall be returned to the call using the “not a bar” language.

On an expedited decision form, in the Order section, the arbitrator or commissioner states,

"In no instance shall this award be a bar to subsequent hearing and determination of an additional amount of temporary total disability, medical benefits, or compensation for a permanent disability, if any."

This "not a bar" language remands the case back to the call for a hearing at which permanency can be addressed. Whenever permanency issues are addressed--whether benefits are awarded or the petitioner is found ineligible--an expedited decision form should not be used. Depending on the arbitrator or commissioner's preferences, parties may file a motion to come out of the 19(b) or 19(b-1) process, or they may state on the record that the arbitrator or commissioner may address permanency.

In any case, to prevent administrative problems, please do not use an expedited decision form and delete the "not a bar" language. Keep in mind that, administratively, the distinguishing feature of an expedited decision form is one in which the arbitrator or commissioner returns the case to the call.

Thanks for your cooperation in these matters. It will help cases flow more smoothly through the process.

posted 2/8/10

Commission submits fee schedule report to Governor, General Assembly

In 2005, when the legislature enacted the first workers' compensation fee schedule in Illinois, it directed the Commission to report on its implementation by January 1, 2010. The Commission worked with the Workers' Compensation Medical Fee Advisory Board and others to draft the report.  In the process, the participants started to form consensus on changes needed to make the fee schedule work as best as possible.  The report will serve as the agenda for future discussions. Thanks to all who helped.  To read the report, click here. 

posted 12/30/09

Commission decisions available

At present, the Commission does not publish its own decisions in bulk. Since Tower Records* has gone out of business, people have been asking where they may obtain Commission-level decisions. We have listed all known vendors below. The Commission is not affiliated with any of these companies and does not endorse any company. The list is provided as a convenience to the parties.

Decisions may be purchased on a disk or online from QDEX. 

The following vendors sell subscriptions to online legal research that include Commission decisions: LexisNexis  and Westgroup.

The following vendors summarize some, but not all Commission decisions, in their publications: LRP Publications and WC Summaries. 

If other vendors exist and would like to be listed, please click here. 

*This Tower Records is not related to the music store also known as Tower Records.

posted 12/21/09

Commission convenes rules review group

The Commission has assembled a group of attorneys, arbitrators, and commissioners to conduct an extensive review of the rules. Chairman Masters has solicited ideas from the Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association, Workers' Compensation Lawyers Association, and the Illinois Self-Insurers Association.

The rules review group consists of:

Greg Becker, Becker Schroader & Chapman PC
Bruce Bonds, Heyl Royster Voelker & Allen
Frank Brady, Brady, Connolly, Masuda,P.C.
William Lowry, Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry
David Menchetti, Cullen Haskins Nicholson & Menchetti
John Power, Power & Cronin Ltd
Kim Presbrey, Presbrey & Associates
Natalie Romo, Hennessy & Roach
Sam Ruffolo, Baum, Ruffolo, & Marzal, Ltd.
Jean Swee, Williams & Swee Ltd

Arbitrator Milt Black
Arbitrator Jeff Tobin

Commissioner David Gore
Commissioner Nancy Lindsay

Once the rules revisions are formalized, they will be voted upon by the Commission and proceed through the formal rule-making process, during which the public will have an opportunity to review and comment.

posted 11/24/09

100th anniversary of Cherry mine disaster commemorated

On Nov. 13, 1909, in a coal mine in central Illinois, 300 feet below ground, a torch set a load of hay on fire. Of the nearly 500 men and boys in the mine that day, 259 died. Eight days after the fire, 21 men who were still trapped in the mine were rescued. They survived by sealing themselves off from the fire and drinking pools of water.

The fire provided the impetus for worker safety and workers' compensation legislation. In a special session, the Illinois legislature created a commission to study and recommend the best way to compensate for industrial accidents. The first workers' compensation act in Illinois took effect on May 1, 1912.

In Springfield, on Nov. 1, the Abraham Presidential Library opens a commemorative exhibit, "The Flames Caught Us." The exhibit will run through March 2010.

Artifacts featured in the exhibit include typical 1909 mining equipment; a mule collar and chain; a canary cage to hold the birds used to measure air quality; numerous government reports on the disaster; and several personal narratives. Many of these artifacts have been loaned by private individuals specifically for this exhibit.

On Saturday, Nov. 7, at 6 p.m., the library will host a roundtable discussion with authors who have written about the disaster. Authors participating include Karen Tintori, "Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster"; Dean and Lorena (Galletti) Cotton, "Oneness: Angiolina, The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster"; Steve Stout, "Black Damp: The Story of the Cherry Mining Disaster"; and Ronald Bluemer, "Fire Below!" Musician Ray Tutaj Jr. will offer a musical performance dedicated to the Cherry Mine Disaster.

Click here for more information on the Cherry mine fire.

Click here for a first-hand account by one of the 21 surviving miners, published in 1911.

Click here for more information on the history of the Illinois workers' compensation program.

posted 10/27/09

No gifts, please

Please remember that IWCC rules prohibit IWCC employees from accepting anything of value from 1) any petitioner or respondent with a workers' compensation case; or 2) any attorney representing a petitioner or respondent with a workers' compensation case in front of the IWCC. This includes minor expenses such as a free lunch, a holiday gift, or even a discount.

posted 8/26/09

Insurance agent convicted on wc fraud

Reuben Collier, Jr., of Collier Insurance Agency in Waukegan, has pled guilty to three felony charges of theft, forgery, and workers’ compensation fraud. He collected money from 22 north suburban businesses for workers’ compensation insurance, issued false certificates of insurance, never secured coverage, and pocketed the $400,000. For more information, click here. 

To date, the Illinois Department of Insurance WC Fraud Unit has referred cases that led to nine convictions of claimants, one employer, and one insurance agent. To see the list of convictions, click here. New indictments continue to come in. Congratulations to the IDOI.

revised 6/7/10; posted 6/26/09

Is your client entitled to RAF benefits?

Each spring, the Commission sends letters to all petitioners we could identify who appear to be eligible as of the upcoming July 15 for cost-of-living benefits from the Rate Adjustment Fund. This year, we sent letters to the petitioners as well as the petitioner and respondent attorneys on each case, but, as in prior years, we received responses on only about half of the cases.

Petitioners who are either permanently and totally disabled (PTD) or the survivors of fatally-injured workers may be eligible for cost-of-living benefits beginning on the second July 15th after a final decision. For more information on RAF, please go to the RAF web page.

We are now sending follow-up letters, but we need your help. Attorneys, if your client has moved and you have a current address, please get in touch with him or her. Please help us spread the word.

posted 6/19/09

Employer closed down for failure to obtain WC insurance

For the first time, an Illinois business has been shut down for failure to obtain workers’ compensation insurance. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission and the City of Evanston shut down All Good Dogs Pet Care, also known as The Hungry Pup, an Evanston storefront at 941 Chicago Avenue, with dog-walkers in six suburbs.

Four individuals have filed workers’ compensation claims against the company. Two individuals have been found eligible for workers’ compensation, but the employer has not paid any benefits.

“We gave the employer every opportunity to comply with the law,” said Jan Eisbart, former manager of the IWCC Insurance Compliance Division. “All they had to do was get insurance and they have not complied. They did not respond to our letters or even appear at the hearing. They forced our hand.”

Eisbart takes this occasion to remind all employers of their obligation to purchase workers’ compensation insurance. Employers may be fined up to $500 for each day without insurance, with a minimum fine of $10,000. Corporate officers may be held personally liable and/or sent to prison.

In 2005, the legislature strengthened the law by giving the Commission the authority to issue a work-stop order on an employer that has been found to knowingly fail to carry insurance.

Anyone may check an employer’s insurance coverage on the IWCC website, email the Commission, or call toll-free 866/352-3033.

PS:  The owner did purchase insurance and reopened the business. 

revised 6/19/09; posted 6/3/09

Please help us remove settled cases from the call

Because it is important to all of us that the IWCC database is as accurate as possible, we are asking for your help in removing settled cases from the call.  Simply informing the arbitrator a case is settled is not sufficient. If your case was settled but still appears on the call after three months, please email or mail a copy of the contract to James Gentry, Central Files Supervisor, in our Chicago office.

In those rare instances where you cannot locate the contract, please complete the "Order Removing Settled Case from the Call" (IC34s) form, and obtain the arbitrator's approval. You do not have to complete this form if you provide a copy of the contract.

posted 12/19/08

Notice:  Beneficiaries of PTD and fatal workers' compensation benefits
also eligible for cost-of-living adjustments

The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission is searching for lost beneficiaries to its Rate Adjustment Fund (RAF).

In the 1970s, the legislature created the Rate Adjustment Fund to pay cost-of-living adjustments to individuals who have been found to be either permanently and totally disabled (PTD) or the survivors of fatally-injured workers. The IWCC collects assessments from employers, and then pays cost-of-living adjustments to beneficiaries.

Individuals who currently receive a workers’ compensation check for PTD or fatality from an employer or insurance company are also eligible to receive a separate check from the State of Illinois for this cost-of-living adjustment.

IWCC staff notified the Auditor General and Comptroller’s Office that the IWCC may not be paying cost-of-living adjustments to all eligible beneficiaries. The situation appears to have existed throughout the past 30 years.

Most of the situation appears to have occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the fund experienced chronic funding shortages. The legislature increased the employer assessment several times and authorized loans from other state funds, but during that time people may not have been paid a cost-of-living adjustment. Throughout the years, some people did not respond to RAF notices, or failed to inform the IWCC of address changes, which contributed to the challenge of locating potentially eligible recipients.

As directed by the Governor’s Office, the IWCC obtained outside legal counsel and conducted a joint investigation with the Office of Internal Audit. In response, the IWCC has implemented the following controls:

The IWCC and the Office of Internal Audit have entered into a multi-year interagency agreement to work on improving internal controls further. It now appears that in FY09, the IWCC has paid beneficiaries appropriately, and is searching for people who were missed in the past.

Individuals who received a final PTD or fatal award more than two years ago but have not received a RAF benefit should fill out and submit the application form found on the RAF web page. 

There are a number of factors that will be considered in determining eligibility for RAF payments. These factors include, but are not limited to, settlement, death, remarriage, maturation of children, reemployment, waiver, statute of limitations, and other legally relevant factors.

revised 12/3/08; posted 11/26/08

Acting Chairman Masters:  arbitration policies are still in effect

Acting Chairman Masters reminds parties that all existing arbitration trial policies remain in effect:

revised 11/24/08; posted 2005

Injured Workers' Benefit Fund collects fines, pays benefits

In FY2010, the Insurance Compliance Division collected $0.9 million in fines from 114 employers (with 1,700 employees) found to be operating without workers' compensation insurance.

Since 2006, the Commission has collected $5 million in fines from uninsured employers. All of that money will be used to pay benefits to the injured workers of uninsured employers. To date, the Commission has paid $2.8 million to 67 workers whose uninsured employers failed to pay them.  Without the IWBF, there would be no fund with which to pay these workers, and they would have received nothing.

To help the Commission in quickly identifying eligible beneficiaries of the fund, we have developed a IWBF Request For Benefits and Affidavit form, which all individuals claiming eligibility for payments at the end of this fiscal year should fill out and send to:

ATTN: Injured Workers' Benefit Fund Claim
Division of Insurance Compliance
Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission
100 W. Randolph St. #8-200
Chicago, IL 60601

For more information, go to our Injured Workers' Benefit Fund web page. 

revised 7/27/10; posted 6/20/08

New features added to IWCC website

We are always trying to improve our website.  Here's a list of recent improvements.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for the website. It exists to serve you, so tell us how it can be better.

revised 7/8/09; posted 2005

Think "Safety First" at work and at home

Which would you guess is higher: the rate of accidental injury at home or at work? 

Believe it or not, home is much more dangerous. According to the National Safety Council, 2 out of 3 disabling injuries suffered by workers occurred while off the job. 

Source: National Safety Council, Injury Facts, 2005-6 edition, pp. 52-54.

Injury report

The overall rate of injury in Illinois in 2006 was 63% lower than in 1991. Experts believe that some of the decline is due to improved safety efforts. These programs are great investments, because everyone wins when accidents are prevented.

Nonfatal injuries. The overall incidence rate for nonfatal injuries and illnesses is 4.1 per 100 full-time workers, a decline from the prior year.  The transportation and manufacturing industries had the most injuries.  The most common event was contact with an object or equipment, followed by overexertion; the most common type of injury was a sprain or strain, and the back was the part of the body most injured. Hispanic workers had a disproportionately high number of injuries. 

Source: Illinois Department of Public Health, "Survey of Nonfatal Workplace Injuries and Illnesses: Illinois, 2007," September 2009. For more information on the BLS/IDPH studies, go to the IDPH website.

revised 2/5/10

Commission encourages more Settlement Days

As we all know, the Commission is a high-volume operation. Each arbitrator handles roughly 3,000 cases at any time, which makes it essential to make the best possible use of his or her time. also know that opposing parties on a case often do not meet until the day of trial. Valuable trial time is then spent on perfunctory matters, easily-resolved discrepancies, and hallway negotiations.

In response, several years ago the Commission started encouraging groups to hold a "Settlement Day" at the Commission. The idea is to bring the two sides together informally to discuss the case and narrow the issues in dispute.

In a typical Settlement Day, an employer, insurance company, or law firm will invite opposing counsel on 25-100 cases to come to the Commission to see if the issues in dispute can be resolved.

No hearing officers or Commission staff are present at Settlement Day conferences. If the parties reach agreement, an arbitrator is available to review the settlement contracts that day.

Thousands of cases have been resolved through this process, and the Commission encourages groups to try it for themselves.

If you find files that are ready to go and you invite the opposing counsel to a Settlement Day, "your success rate should be over 50%," says Keith Brown, senior claims manager at Wausau Insurance, which has set up over a dozen Settlement Days.

"You can close more cases in a Settlement Day than you would ordinarily close in a day or even a week," he continues. "Everyone's in a frame of mind to settle the claims out. It brings down both parties' caseloads and gets the files out of the system."

For more information, or to schedule a Settlement Day, please contact Nick Velazquez (312/814-6560).

revised 7/22/08

Send court orders to Commission

If you are involved in a case in which a court issues an order requiring the Commission to act, please send a copy of the order to Bessie Mims (312/814-6572), and ask the court to return the transcript to us. The courts do not always send us copies of their orders, and cases may fall into limbo if we are not informed. Thanks for your help in keeping the process running smoothly.

Remember IWCC deadlines

Two Appellate Court decisions instruct parties to keep close track of their workers' compensation cases and to follow due diligence in keeping the cases moving.

See Kavonius v. Industrial Commission, 713 NE2d 158, 238 Ill. Dec. 912 (2nd Dist., 1999) and Contreras v. Industrial Commission, 715 NE2d 701, 240 Ill. Dec. 14 (1st Dist., 1999).

In Kavonius, the respondent's appeal of a Commission decision was dismissed because the respondent did not pay for the probable cost of the record and appeal bond in a timely manner, even though a circuit court clerk allegedly returned the documents unfiled.

In Contreras, the respondent's appeal of an arbitrator's decision was dismissed because the court held the respondent did not exercise due diligence in obtaining an authenticated transcript in a timely manner, even though the Commission was late in producing the transcript.

The Appellate Court certified that both cases involve substantial legal questions, which opens the way for the Illinois Supreme Court to consider the cases.

The Commission has taken steps to monitor the production of transcripts more closely. These decisions indicate, however, that parties need to be vigilant about deadlines.

A list of Commission deadlines is available online. The list also appears in the back of the bound copy of the act, which is available at all Commission offices.

Need help bringing a worker back to light duty?

The federal Job Accommodation Network (800/526-7234) offers free information regarding workplace accommodations for disabled workers. This service may be particularly helpful to employers that are trying to bring injured workers back to light-duty work.

Given the functional requirements of a job and the individual's limitations, a consultant will provide advice on the appropriate workplace accommodations. Fortunately, most employees can be accommodated at a modest cost. Often, it is cheaper to pay for the accommodations than to continue to pay Temporary Total Disability benefits.