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Charles A. Berreth
L egislative sessions were held in all States in 1991, with the exception of Kentucky. Substantial changes were made in the workers' compensation laws of Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, and North Dakota.
Louisiana, Maine, and Texas enacted measures to establish competitive State-operated insurance funds to provide coverage for employers; however, the establishment of Louisiana's fund was subject to a referendum which was approved in the gubernatorial primary election. Maine's fund will become operational only if the premium volume in the voluntary market is less than 20 percent of the total statewide premium volume by July 1, 1994, or less than 25 percent by December 31, 1995.
Connecticut became the fourth State to change its method of computing benefits, from 66-2/3 percent of the employee's weekly wage to 80 percent of spendable earnings.
Florida reenacted the reform measure passed in 1990 after it was declared unconstitutional because it dealt with more than one subject. Arkansas established a plan to assume coverage for employers who are entitled to but unable to procure workers' compensation insurance coverage.
California placed a 6-month employment requirement on the filing stress-related claims, while Virginia changed its administrative agency's name from the Industrial Commission to Workers' Compensation Commission.
Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, and New Hampshire, authorized insurers to offer medical deductibles to policy holders while Montana revised its deductible provisions. North Dakota enacted legislation making employers responsible for reimbursing the first $250 of medical expenses for each compensable injury to the Workers' Compensation Bureau.
This excerpt is from an article published in the January 1992 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.
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