Despite negotiated compromise, workers' comp remains untouched

After two years of court rulings that picked away at Oklahoma's new workers' compensation system, lawmakers and the business community were eager for a fix.

They decided on House Bill 1462 as a vehicle for the changes. Near the end, the bill was partly meant to remove or rework parts of the law that had been successfully challenged at the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Workers' comp attorney Bob Burke, one of several attorneys who have led those cases, said the bill would have also improved benefits to Oklahoma workers.

Representatives from both sides — business and workers' litigation — sat down to find a compromise. Burke said his side negotiated an increase in permanent partial disability rates of 15 percent. Temporary total disability, which has weekly payments made while an injured worker isn't working, would have had a “substantial increase,” he said.

Read more: http://newsok.com/despite-negotiated-compromise-workers-comp-remains-untouched/article/5551889