Senate Forms Committees to Study Workers’ Compensation and Medicaid Reform

by Wesley Fox Senate President John Cullerton announced today that he will form committees to study workers compensation and Medicaid reform, which are initiatives Republicans promoted during the campaign.  The committees would advance legislation for a possible vote in January,according to the Sun-Times. Illinois’s workers’ compensation requirements are costly and discourage employers from hiring or even doing business...

by Wesley Fox

Senate President John Cullerton announced today that he will form committees to study workers compensation and Medicaid reform, which are initiatives Republicans promoted during the campaign.  The committees would advance legislation for a possible vote in January,according to the Sun-Times.

Illinois’s workers’ compensation requirements are costly and discourage employers from hiring or even doing business in Illinois.  According to the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness IndexIllinois ranks 40th in workers’ compensation costs.  Illinois also ranks 47th in economic outlook.

Illinois is also being weighed down by the enormous cost of Medicaid.  Illinois spends 30 percent of its budget on Medicaid, behind only Maine and Missouri.  The program is also expected to grow 7 percent in 2010.

Check out the Institute’s solutions to workers’ compensation and Medicaid reform.