As a young attorney, I remember (amidst the morning buzz at the Commission) overhearing another attorney proclaim something along the lines of, “If we’re not settled here and now, then we’re going to trial today… and I’m putting everything in dispute except jurisdiction and employment.” 

YOLO, they say.  Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and simply enjoy the journey, they say.

On June 27, 2022, the Illinois Appellate Court Workers’ Compensation Commission Division (4th District) issued a Rule 23 Decision in the case of City of Springfield v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, 2022 IL App (4th) 210338WC-U.

The importance of repetition in employment cannot be understated.

On June 13, 2022, Chairman Michael Brennan of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) signed an Order increasing the reimbursements for Evaluation and Management (E/M) codes by 15% across all Fee Schedule regions effective September 1, 2022.

Beginning June 4, 2022, CMS will utilize the CDC’s “Table 1: Life Table for the total population: United States, 2019” for the Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set Aside life expectancy calculations.

On January 10, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services added Section 4.3 - The Use of Non-CMS-Approved Products to Address Future Medical Care to the Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Arrangement (WCMSA) Reference Guide (“Guide”).

Governor Evers signed 2021 Wisconsin Act 232 into law on April 8, 2022.

On March 2, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) submitted a proposed rule on Medicare Secondary Payer and Future Medicals (CMS-6047) to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which if adopted could have a game-changing impact on liability, and perhaps other types of cases throughout the country.

Medical bills are often the ugliest part of a workers’ compensation settlement.