Back to January 2006 Releases
01/12/2006
Gov. Sanford, Business Leaders to Push for Workers' Comp Reform
Governor Says Keeping Rate Increases in Check Key to a Competitive Business Environment
Columbia, S.C. - Governor Mark Sanford today stood with business leaders in Greenville and Charleston to stress the need for comprehensive workers' compensation reform in the upcoming legislative session, saying it was key to improving our state's business environment. Gov. Sanford said he will join with the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance and members of the General Assembly in the coming legislative session to advance workers' compensation reforms aimed at having an immediate impact on rates, after recent proposed increases have threatened South Carolina's competitive advantage in this area. Last month, Gov. Sanford received recommendations from his Workers' Compensation Task Force, a group formed earlier this year to conduct a top-to-bottom review of South Carolina's workers' compensation system and make proposals to control spiraling premium increases.
"South Carolina's businesses, and especially our small businesses, simply cannot sustain the current trend of increases in workers' compensation premiums," Gov. Sanford said. "I think workers' compensation reform is key to continuing the progress we've made -- with changes like income tax relief and tort reform -- when it comes to creating better soil conditions for growing businesses and creating jobs. This will be another step toward enhancing our competitive edge with respect to our business environment."
Gov. Sanford commended members of the S.C. House and S.C. Senate for filing legislation this week to address a number of workers compensation issues identified by the business community and the governor's task force as ones that could have immediate impact on rates. Some of those issues include dissolution of the Second Injury Fund; putting restrictions on repetitive trauma claims; eliminating the presumption of total back loss with a 50 percent injury; and reversing the Tiller v. National Healthcare case that allows non-expert testimony regarding a medical condition. Senators Jim Ritchie and Scott Richardson have filed Senate legislation with more than a dozen co-sponsors, and Rep. Harry Cato has filed a similar House bill with more than 40 co-sponsors.
"We applaud Governor Sanford's leadership and support for our efforts to reform the workers compensation system in South Carolina," said Lewis F. Gossett, President and CEO of the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance. "The manufacturing sector in this state simply can no longer withstand the dramatic increases it has seen in workers' compensation rates, and unless we enact comprehensive, meaningful reform, South Carolina's competitiveness in the global market could suffer."
"The workers' compensation system is in crisis in South Carolina, as South Carolina continues to lose its competitive position in relation to surrounding states in regards to increases in Workers Comp rates," said S. Hunter Howard Jr., president and chief executive officer of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. "We're looking forward to working with Governor Sanford and the General Assembly to address this issue before it adversely impacts our state's businesses."
The National Council on Compensation Insurance is currently appealing the S.C. Department of Insurance's rejection of a request to raise workers' compensation premiums by nearly 33 percent, in what would be the third consecutive year of double-digit premium increases for South Carolina's businesses. If that increase were to be approved, it would put our state into the top half of states for the cost of workers compensation premiums. In 2000, we had the second-lowest premiums in the nation. South Carolina's workers compensation premiums increased 17.3 percent in 2003, compared to a national average increase of 6.65 percent. Last year, they rose another 11.4 percent compared to an average decrease of 6 percent nationally.