Group of Democrats unveils workers comp plan

With just days left in the legislative session, a group of eight House Democrats unveiled their own proposal Tuesday to reform the state's workers compensation system, keeping the thorny issue of settlements, but making several changes to a broader Senate measure.

The group's proposal builds off a business-backed measure that the Senate approved earlier this session. The plan has stalled in the House.

The revamped proposal is also meeting opposition from organized labor, which has argued that the workers compensation system is a safety net for laborers, not a place for litigation.

The Senate bill introduces the option of settlements to the state's system for injured workers, something backers say would save hundreds of millions of dollars. Labor groups have steadfastly opposed any kind of settlements.

Meanwhile, there's a competing package of measures from the House that aims to fix the system by making several adjustments to the state's system.

But on Tuesday, Rep. Larry Springer, a Democrat from Kirkland and deputy majority leader, said "nothing has been ruled out" when it comes to workers compensation.

"Leadership doesn't have a position on settlements, we've never have had a position on settlements. We've always said the only thing we're interested in is finding ways to make our workers comp system more cost-effective while protecting benefits for workers," Springer said.

Still, the odds of the Senate bill, and the changes of the House moderates made, making it to a floor vote remain uncertain. The moderate Democrats would need to join all the House Republicans to approve a motion to let the bill be voted on the floor - an attempt last week fell short of the votes needed.

Tuesday's proposal is the latest in a session-long fight to reform the workers compensation system.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, Senate and House leaders have all made making changes to the workers compensation system a priority this session after the state auditor's office last year said that reserves were at risk of insolvency.

Gregoire has said she wants savings enacted this year to avoid a hike in the payments businesses pay into the system.

"I think we have answered a lot of the concerns about this, but we also can capture significant savings. While at the same time protect the interest of workers," said Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, one of the eight House Democrats who signed on to the plan.

At the end of the day, it's the worker's money and it's their life, and they should have the right to make this choice to make this decision on their own and it needs to be a fair process," Hurst added.

Under the moderate plan, settlements from medical claims are eliminated. Those were included in the Senate bill. The plan also expands a wait period from 12 weeks in the Senate plan to six months before a claim is filed for time worked losses. A worker would receive benefits in those six months.

The moderate plan also enhances safeguards for workers who can't afford a lawyer, and asks for a study to be completed in three years that would assess the success of the plan.

"So rather than harming a worker, like the labor folks say this will, this actually is an incentive to get back into ... just the rhythm and routine without fear of losing their benefits," Hurst said.

How much the moderate proposal would save the system is not known yet. The Senate bill released earlier had estimated savings of $1.2 billion in the next two years, according to state officials.

"It's an in-moderate proposal," said Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett. "It puts the whole thing of risk into the system. If you're going to do that, you might as well turn into a system of litigation."

Sells, who managed to stall the Senate bill as the chair of the labor committee, said that if a vote would come up on settlements, proposal to allow workers to sue would probably begin to appear.

The House package projects savings of about a half billion dollars in the next six years.

Labor argues that settlements would not fully compensate a worker injured on the job.

"The only compromise, in any form of compromise and release, is workers compromising the benefits they need to survive," said Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council.

The competing House package includes bills that would freeze cost of living allowances for a year, and stop injured workers that receive total-disability pensions from receiving partial disability benefits.

Both the House and Senate passed a measure that expands medical provider networks to try to get injured workers health. Both also approve a plan to subsidize wages to try to get workers on the job sooner.

About 85 percent of compensation costs come from only 8 percent of all claims, which involve workers who are receiving benefits for a prolonged period or have lifetime pensions, according to the Department of Labor and Industries.

"It's not about what labor likes or what they don't like, or what business likes or doesn't like. It's a matter of our caucus and our leadership team looking at the various proposals out there and figuring what's the best package," Springer said.