STATE MAKES PROGRESS WITH WORKERS' COMP

Less than a decade ago, Missouri's workers compensation system was in crisis. This is the system established during the 1920s to compensate employees for work-related injuries. Businesses across the state were experiencing average workers comp increases of 15 percent annually in the early 1990s. Some faced workers comp increases of as much as 50 percent in one year. Many of these business leaders looked at a grim future with two drastic options under consideration: Either move out of the state or go out of business entirely.

The General Assembly attempted a remedy with Senate Bill 251, passed during the 1993 session. Among other things, the measure established created a non-profit, quasi-governmental agency called the Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance Co. The non-profit company was begun with $5 million in state funds as seed capital. SB 251, sponsored by Sen. Jim Mathewson, D-Sedalia, had three main goals: Safer work environments, lower premiums and recovery of all the state money with interest.

Nearly six and a half years after passage, it is clear that the crisis of early this decade has eased. In 1992, total workers comp claims hit a record high of $743.6 million. By 1998 that figure had dropped to $570.6 million, a decrease of $143 million. Adjust these numbers for inflation, and the savings are even greater. In that same period, workers comp injuries declined from 189,104 to 170,727.

Last month, the state-sponsored mutual insurance company repaid the $5 million to the state, along with $500,000 in interest.

For his part, Missouri Chamber of Commerce President Dan Mehan says that the improvements should be credited to the robust economy and to efforts by employers to reduce injuries. There is no doubt some truth in this.

Nonetheless, Sen. Mathewson can take a bow. It would appear his work in the extraordinarily difficult passage of SB 251, more than six years ago, was one big step in defusing the workers comp crisis of the early 1990s.