Editor’s note: The governor on Tuesday signed a sweeping workers’ compensation reform package. As a result we are offering two stories and a chronology. The top story is the main story about the bill. The second story is an interview with Rep. Scott Reichner, R-Bigfork, who talks about the bill and its impact. Then we offer a chronology of the bill.
By PHIL DRAKE
HELENA – Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Tuesday signed HB 334, a bipartisan bill that supporters say will bring historic reform to Montana’s workers’ compensation system, now ranked as having the highest rates in the nation.
“This is a good bill for all the right reasons, everybody in Montana wins,” Schweitzer said surrounded by lawmakers during a bill-signing ceremony in his reception room.
He thanked Republicans who stepped to the front of the line and decided to fix the problem.
“I feel great,” said Rep. Scott Reichner, R-Bigfork, who brokered the bill after being asked by House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, to take an existing bill by the Labor-Management Advisory Council (LMAC) and see if he could bring more savings faster to Montana.
“This shows that the citizen legislature can work,” he said. “We put partisan politics behind us and we did the right thing.”
The bill, scored by the National Council on Compensation Insurance, would bring savings of  about 25 percent  or about $100 million, off of Montana’s workers’ compensation rates, by July 1.
Reichner said there would be another $60 million saved over the next three years.
Milburn said the bill would help bring jobs to Montana.
“It’s a great achievement,” he said.
But not everyone was happy.
Representatives from several unions said they were disappointed that several proposals adopted by LMAC to improve the system for injured workers were not in HB334 and apparently rejected by GOP leadership.
“Unfortunately, our goal of doing no harm to injured workers was disregarded by the Republican legislative leadership resulting in many workers, especially low wage workers and minimum wage workers suffering reduced wage replacements,” the union groups said in a prepared statement.
They encouraged Montana employers and employees to recognize that reducing the state’s high rate of on the job accidents could save an additional $150 million. “…more workers would go home to their families without cuts, bruises, broken bones or debilitating physical conditions. Everyone wins with that.”
Among proposals in the 51-page bill are ending medical benefits 60 months after the day the injury occurred instead of the last time medical services were used. It does allow people to have the benefits renewed every two years with a panel review. It sets up fee schedules and it also creates a list of doctors that injured workers can see rather than letting them request their personal doctor. 
Permanent Partial Disability is 9 percent of the claims but 70 percent of the cost. A part of the proposal is to require an impairment rating of at least Class 2, or “moderate” impairment, instead of “mild” in order to receive Permanent Partial Disability wage loss benefits.
The bill also provides the ability for insurer and worker to agree to settle non-disputed medical benefits. And it prohibits claims for workers’ compesnation benefits in cases where employees are on breaks off the premises.
Montana paid nearly $400 million in workers’ compensation rates last year, officials said. Lawmakers say they consistently hear from business owners that the high rates are keeping them from expanding their business, paying employees better or forcing them to move out of state. Worker’s compensation reform is a top priority for the House and Senate.
In 2006, the governor started LMAC, made up of labor and management representatives, to look at workers’ compensation reform. LMAC, headed by Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, came up with HB 87, which was approved last summer by the state’s Economic Affairs Interim Committee, which was headed by Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte. The plan was discarded earlier in the session as GOP leaders said it did not provide deep enough cuts fast enough. Reichner was approached by House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, shortly after the Nov. 2 elections to come up with a workers’ compensation reform package that would bring bigger savings faster than other proposals. HB 87 was replaced in favor of HB 334, which officials said incorporates a lot of LMAC’s ideas.
Keane, who repeatedly warned his committee that HB 87 would be under attack once the Legislature met, said Tuesday he was happy with the end result.
“I think once we all came together we came out with a product that is good for the state on Montana,” he said. “But it isn’t over.”
He said officials would have to monitor the bill and make sure it was doing what it was supposed to do. That may call for some tweaking over the next couple years.
“We have a product we haven’t had before,” he said. “It’s a heck of a start, a good compromise.”
HB334 had to clear another hurdle when in March the governor met with GOP House and Senate leaders and asked if the bill should be delayed, adding he was skeptical that HB 334 would improve the system and wondered if history would treat lawmakers kindly for passing a mediocre bill.
Officials said the governor then called and said he could support the bill if certain issues were amended. Those changes included allowing an independent review board to extend claim closure, allows for actual wage loss for partial disability, allows patients their choice of medical providers and locks in medical provider rates at 2010 levels.

 
‘DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THIS KIND OF LEGISLATION’: REICHNER SAYS

By PHIL DRAKE
Rep. Scott Reichner tells a story about being called by House Speaker Mike Milburn several months ago and asked to come up with a new workers’ compensation bill.
The Republican leadership wanted a bill that would bring instant results to Montana. And while a workers’ compensation bill crafted over a four-year period by a state-appointed Labor-Management Advisory Council promised savings, the GOP chiefs thought they were not deep enough nor arrive soon enough.
“I turned it over to Scott Reichner and asked why it’s so expensive and to fix it,” Milburn said. “We want good coverage for less cost.”
Reichner, a Bigfork Republican, remembers his response to Milburn.
 “I said ‘Gee, Mike, I thought you liked me.”
Reichner, 44, began schooling himself about worker’s compensation and he says he called several people to the table. Even the governor weighed in with amendments for a bill now being touted as the largest workers’ compensation reform package in Montana’s history.
“It’s a victory for business and it’s also a victory for the citizen legislature as led by Speaker Milburn and Senate President Jim Peterson as well as Gov. Brian Schweitzer,” Reichner said recently. “They put partisan politics behind them and came up with a bill for the citizens and businesses of Montana.”
They were able to put together amendments that saved the integrity of the upfront savings and added more protection for workers.
Reichner said the governor called legislative leadership on March 21 and said he wanted to talk about the workers’ compensation bill and added if they came to an agreement he would send Department of Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly to a Senate committee hearing to vouch for the bill.
“It’s leadership doing their jobs, starting with Milburn, Peterson and Schweitzer,” Reichner said. “Everyone’s contributed. This is a true consensus bill and all parties have contributed to the problems
Reichner said what resulted from that compromise was a bill that will save about 24 percent from Montana’s workers’ compensation costs or about $100 million the first year. Another 15 percent is targeted to be saved in the three years after that.
Reichner said it was a bill by Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, which brought doctors to the table. And those changes were incorporated into the final bill.
Reichner credited several people and committees for the bill’s success including Zinke, Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte, Rep. Chuck Hunter, D-Helena, Rep. Gordon Vance, R-Bozeman, and the Labor-Management Advisory Council.
He said the savings will provide immediate relief to businesses and sends a message outside the state. It also sends a message to Montana workers that there will be relief from high unemployment, low wages and no raises.
He said the bill as amended addresses fraud, treatment guidelines and doctor selection.
“I don’t think everyone will be satisfied, but that’s the sign of a good bill,” he said. “It’s a huge success. Don’t underestimate this kind of legislation.”

THE HISTORY OF MONTANA’S WORKERS’ COMPENSATION REFORM

2004 – Brian Schweitzer and John Bohlinger campaign throughout the state for governor and lieutenant governor. Bohlinger says the campaign trail is peppered with business people complaining about high workers’ compensation costs. They are both elected to office.

December 2006 – Keith Kelly, the state commissioner of Labor and Industry, forms the Labor-Management Advisory Council to look into workers’ compensation problems. It’s chaired by Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger and has five representatives each from labor and management.

May 26, 2010 – Jerry Keck, administrator of the employment relations division in the Department of Labor and Industry and who sits with LMAC, reads a list to the state Legislature’s Economic Affairs Interim Committee of 17 changes that LMAC proposes for overhauling workers’ compensation in Montana. The proposals are approved.

June 28, 2010 – A group of caregivers tell the Economic Affairs Interim Committee that the new workers’ compensation bill is unfair. Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte, asks staff to meet with them and report back to the committee in August.

Aug. 19, 2010 – Several caregivers tell the Economic Affairs Interim Committee that they were left out of the process in drafting workers’ compensation reform. EAIC Chairman Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte warns the bill will face opposition on the legislative floor and calls on the panel to stand together and “slug it out.”

Sept. 3, 2010 – The Economic Affairs Interim Committee moves the Labor-Management Advisory Council’s workers’ compensation reform bill out of committee and on to the 2011 legislative session even though several doctors and other health-care providers said major surgery was needed to portions of the proposal. Rep. Chuck Hunter, D-Helena, was told to meet with the LMAC and with the parties who complained about the bill and see if a compromise could be reached.

Oct. 19, 2010 – Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte, chair of the Economic Affairs Interim Committee, tells a meeting of physicians, caregivers and attorneys opposed to proposed workers’ compensation reform that he will push legislation through the session despite their objections. “I’m going to work as hard as I can to improve the workers’ compensation system and if you have trouble with that – tough,” he said.

Oct. 20, 2010 – Montana now has the highest workers’ compensation premiums in the country, according to a national study by the Oregon Department of Consumer & Business services.
 In the past 10 years, the Oregon study has shown Montana moving up in the rankings. In 2000, Montana had the 12th highest premiums, 10th highest in 2002, eighth highest in 2004, fifth highest in 2006, and the second highest in 2008. This year, Montana surpassed Alaska to take the top spot. The report shows Montana’s neighbors have some of the cheapest work comp premiums in the country: Idaho – 29th; South Dakota – 28th; Wyoming – 37th; North Dakota – 51st.

Dec. 15, 2010 – Labor-Management Advisory Council members are told their workers’ compensation reform is “dead on arrival” in the House and will introduce their bill in the Senate in the hopes approval there would give it the momentum it needs to pass the entire Legislature. Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, who chairs LMAC, says Republican House leaders have said the bill does not go far enough and want to craft their own bill.

Dec. 17, 2010 – Rep. Scott Reichner, R-Bigfork, meets with 30 various caregivers, insurance providers and business representatives at the Montana State Fund building to discuss the new workers’ compensation bill that House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, has asked him to draft.

Jan. 3 – New Legislature is sworn in. Legislative leaders list workers’ compensation reform as a top priority.

Jan. 8 – During a Legislative listening session held on a Saturday, several people tell lawmakers that Montana’s high workers’ compensation costs are too burdensome on their businesses.

Jan. 21 – Rep. Chuck Hunter, D-Helena tells the House Business and Labor Committee that HB 87, the 94-page workers’ compensation bill crafted by the Labor-Management Advisory Council over the course of 60 public meetings, would have to be heavily amended and suggests going with a “clean” version of the proposal in the Senate instead.

Jan. 24 – Rep. Scott Reichner, R-Bigfork, unveils a new workers’ compensation plan he says will bring savings of $84-$183 million to Montana and bring them within months and not years. This is called the largest workers’ compensation reform package in the history of Montana. The 37-page bill, then known as LC 305, eventually becomes HB 334.

Jan. 31 – House Business and Labor Committee has four-hour hearing on HB 334. No vote is taken by proponents and opponents speak on the bill.

Feb. 9 – Workers’ compensation bill hits clears House. Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee reviews SB 243 by Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, who suggests a subcommittee be formed to combine his bill with HB 334.

March 3 – Governor asks if workers’ compensation bill should be held. He says he doesn’t want a bill that makes workers’ compensation worse and wonders if history will be kind to the 2011 legislature if it passes flawed workers’ compensation reform.

March 21 – Governor reportedly contacts GOP leaders and offers to support bill if certain changes are made.

March 23 – Governor’s amendments added to workers’ compensation bill

 March 28 -Senate passes workers’ compensation reform bill 45-5.

March 30  – HB 334 passes House 94-6.

March 31 – HB 334 is signed by Sen. President Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo and House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade.

April 12 – Gov. Brian Schweitzer signs HB 334 into law.

Source: Montana Watchdog website