Governor Signs Oklahoma New Comp Bill

  Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt today signed into law HB 2367, the 2019 workers' compensation bill. An emergency clause was attached, so provisions of the bill are effective immediately for injuries which occur after today.  The following is a summary of the bill that I sent when the Legislature completed action on the bill.

    At the beginning of the legislative session, Oklahoma's workers' compensation system faced three problems,  (1) Oklahoma workers were receiving the lowest benefits in the nation because of the 2013 reform act; (2) the Multiple Injury Trust Fund (MITF), a fund that provides small weekly payments to 3,000 of the state's most disabled workers, was running out of money and had an unfunded liability of more than $400 million. If we didn't do something, that burden would fall on taxpayers; and (3) the Court of Existing Claims (CEC), which handles claims for injuries that occurred before February 1, 2014, was set to expire in 2020. The Supreme Court has ruled that as a result of the 2013 law, a court must adjudicate older claims and the new Workers' Compensation Commission has authority over injuries that occurred after February 1, 2014. The present law gave the Governor no power over the appointment of judges for the Court of Existing Claims that was created in 2013.

 

    For many weeks, the Governor's office, House Judiciary Chairman Chris Kannady, Senate Judiciary Chairman Juli Daniels; representatives of the State Chamber of Commerce, injured workers, and several major Oklahoma companies; and Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn, worked tirelessly on a compromise that might help solve all four problems.

     In the end, the stakeholders compromised their positions to reach a reasonable solution.

 

    (1) For employers, HB 2367 allows the termination of benefits if an injured worker abandons medical treatment for 60 days or refuses or ignores a Judge's order for medical treatment; retaliatory discharge claims are moved back to district court; double recovery is prohibited for workers who began their claims in another state; provides that a work activity must be the "major cause" of an injury;  allows for mandatory dismissal of a claim if a worker does not pursue the claim within a short time period; eliminates filing of unnecessary paperwork by employers; and provides that injury reports filed by employers are confidential unless an official claim is filed.

 

    (2) Benefits for Oklahoma's injured workers will be raised by approximately 22 percent. For higher paid workers who have lost nearly $1,000 a month while the doctor has kept them off work because of an injury, the maximum temporary disability income benefit is raised from $602 to $867.71 per week. In addition, permanent disability rates are raised for the first time since 2010. This increase moves Oklahoma from number 51 in benefits, including the District of Columbia, to number 43.

 

    (3) Eligibility criteria for claims against the Multiple Injury Trust Fund have been made much stricter for the future. The period of time benefits can be paid are reduced to age 65 or 8 years, whichever is longer. Insurance carriers, own risk employers, and injured workers will share the burden by making larger contributions into the MITF, including 3 percent to be deducted from injured workers' compensation settlements or awards. The statute of limitations to file a claim is reduced from two years to one year. A worker must be at least 50 % disabled from previous injuries before becoming eligible to file a claim against the MITF after the latest injury. The MITF director will report directly to the Governor.

 

    (4) The Governor will appoint one judge of the Court of Existing Claims, from a list of 3 provided by the Judicial Nominating Commission, to serve from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2022, with confirmation by the State Senate. The Governor will appoint an Administrator of the CEC on January 1, 2020. The current Presiding Judge is appointed through July 1, 2020.

-- Bob Burke 5/28/2019