Over the past year, our blog has examined an ongoing story in the state of Illinois concerning the payment of millions of dollars in workers compensation benefits by only a handful of arbitrators, as well as the work comp reform initiated by state legislators in the aftermath of fraud/budgetary concerns.

Specifically, we've discussed how a groundbreaking series of stories by the Belleville News-Democrat exposed the relatively large amount of work comp claims being filed by guards and other personnel at the Menard Correctional Center located in southern Illinois. (Since 2008, almost $10 million in work comp benefits have been paid out to 389 Menard employees).

We've also discussed how the state introduced comprehensive changes to the work comp system, and how both state and federal officials are now investigating potentially fraudulent conduct by arbitrators in southern Illinois.

In recent developments, the Associated Press recently conducted its own investigation into the allocation of work comp benefits in Illinois from 2007 to 2010, conducting a line by line review of nearly 7,800 work comp cases.

Here, AP investigators made a shocking discovery: almost a third of all work comp benefits for long-term impairment were paid to the employees of only 12 state-run institutions, all of which were located in southern Illinois.

Specifically, they found the following:

  • Of the $127 million in work comp benefits awarded for long-term impairment from 2007 to 2010, approximately $40.7 million went to workers in these 12 state facilities in southern Illinois
  • This $40.7 million was distributed among 861 claims filed by employees of these 12 state facilities. By comparison, only $24 million was distributed among 963 claims filed by employees of 51 state facilities during the same time.

Here, researchers had a variety of theories as to why the amount of work comp benefits awarded during this period was disproportionately higher in southern Illinois as compared with the rest of the state.

  • The employee culture of these 12 state institutions actively encouraged the filing of work comp claims
  • The award patterns of the aforementioned arbitrators now under investigation by state and federal officials (90 percent of the work comp cases resulting in the award of long-term benefits were assigned to only three arbitrators)
  • The inability of state officials to identify a potential problem and launch an appropriate investigation

Whatever the reason, this story is likely to generate conversation in legal circles and continue to push Illinois officials toward taking steps to prevent a reoccurrence of possible work comp fraud.

Stay tuned for further updates on this intriguing workers' compensation benefits story from our San Diego firm ...

If you have questions or would like to learn more about workers' compensation benefits, contact an experienced legal professional.

This post was for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.

Source:

CBS News, "Third of Illinois worker comp awards in 12 facilities" Dec. 5, 2011