Nixon signs Second Injury Fund bill into law

Gov. Jay Nixon yesterday signed legislation providing sweeping changes to workers' compensation claims allowed under the ailing Second Injury Fund.

Among its provisions, Senate Bill 1 limits the claims that can be submitted through the Second Injury Fund. According to a news release from the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the legislation removes all permanent partial disability from the fund, which represented 80 percent of claims.

“This was critical legislation, not just from a financial standpoint but also from a standpoint of system integrity,” Missouri chamber President and CEO Daniel Mehan said in the release.

The fund was established in 1943 as a way to help employers cover the costs of workplace injuries that lead to long-term disability for employees with pre-existing disabilities. Associated Industries of Missouri worked together with the Missouri chamber and others in 2005 to set the 3 percent cap on the surcharge businesses in Missouri pay on their workers’ compensation insurance premiums – a move some credit with the fund’s current insolvency, according to Springfield Business Journal archives. For several years, the fund has been unable to fully pay disabled or injured individuals. According to the chamber, 1,200 people have outstanding claims and more than 30,000 claims are pending adjudication, with the Second Injury Fund $32 million in the red.

The bill implements a temporary surcharge on businesses not to exceed 3 percent of workers' comp premiums from 2014 to 2012, according to the legislation.

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