News

Injured workers with low back pain whose injuries are covered by workers compensation insurers and employers reported the lowest improvements in function following physical therapy than patients covered by all other payment systems, according to study released Tuesday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The data used in the study was collected at admission and discharge from low back pain…

A bill that would limit awards for subsequent workplace injuries to the “same part of the spine” was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly on Tuesday. H.B. 2345 would amend the Workers’ Compensation Act, stating that “for purposes of computing compensation for an employee who had a prior compensated injury to the spine, the prior compensation shall be deducted from…

An Illinois grain cooperatives’ failure to make sure they followed required safety procedures contributed to how a 27-year-old worker suffered a partial amputation of his right leg when a paddle conveyor was left running when he and two other employees entered a soybean bin for cleaning. Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration responded to…

Illinois lawmakers are considering an emergency temporary regulation that would limit how cumulative trauma workers compensation claims would affect insurance rates and includes language that holds previous employers liable. Introduced Friday, S.B. 1305 states that “(a)ny accidental injury, which results from repetitive or cumulative trauma and occurs within six months after the employee begins his or her employment shall not…

In January, the Workers Compensation Research Institute reported that comp claims with long COVID had higher-than-average medical payments and indemnity payments and longer durations of temporary disability than regular COVID-19 claims. “In particular, we found a nearly 10-fold difference in the average medical payment per claim,” WCRI researcher Bogdan Savych wrote in the report, which analyzed infections between March 2…