Workers' Compensation changes being proposed in Missouri Senate

Senate Bill 572 is circulating in the Missouri State Senate right now, and some of the changes are not great for the state's workers.  The bill proposes a fix to the ailing Second Injury Fund.  Although it is good that an effort is being made to inject money into the Second Injury Fund to pay its current obligations, the bill also proposes to eliminate future Fund payments in cases of permanent partial disability and in permanent total disablitity cases where the pre-existing disability is not work- or military-related. The bill also proposes several other changes to the Second Injury Fund's obligations, including eliminating the Fund's obligation to pay weekly rehabilitation benefits. 

Other worker-unfriendly portions of the bill include eliminating an employee's ability to sue a co-employee for damages outside of the worker's compensation system, even in cases where the co-employee was grossly negligent.  Another section of the bill proposes to eliminate the Second Injury Fund's obligation to pay the fair, reasonable and necessary medical expenses of an employee whose employer is uninsured. 

Stay tuned as this bill will undoubtedly go through several changes before it is presented for a vote.