WMC’s Senior Policy Director Rachel Ver Velde testified in support of two bills to reform the Worker’s Compensation system in Wisconsin.
LRB-5292/P3 and LRB-5293/P2 were developed and approved by the Worker’s Compensation Advisory Council. The bills are the product of extensive deliberation and negotiation and address several important issues.
The bills provide for a reasonable increase in the maximum weekly benefit for permanent partial disability of $8 each year for the next two years. They contain provisions to secure the solvency of the uninsured employers fund and address issues surrounding the advance payment of unaccrued benefits and the closure of cases.
The bills also include provisions that will allow workers compensation coverage for PTSD suffered by emergency medical responders, emergency medical services practitioners, and volunteer or part-time fire fighters and index benefit levels for individuals that have been permanently and totally disabled in the past.
