Maine reformed the Workers’ Compensation system in 1992 because the state’s Workers’ Comp system had broken down so completely that the state was about to be left with no insurance carriers. Today’s successful system is the result of the 1992 Blue Ribbon Commission’s proposals, benefitting both workers and employers by ensuring coverage is there, lowering the costs of coverage, and improving safety. 

• The reforms, based upon the best practices in other states, brought simplicity, certainty, and stability to the Workers’ Comp system, ultimately attracting more carriers and bringing competition to the marketplace, driving costs down.
• Workers’ Compensation claims are down in Maine, meaning workers are working more safely and fewer people are getting injured on the job.
• When injuries do occur in the workplace, the severity of injuries is down. The vast majority of Maine’s injured workers are back to work in fewer than seven days.
• Under the LePage Administration, premiums fell 34.4 percent, while the number of carriers in Maine grew and is now up to 327. 
• More than 85 percent of filed Workers’ Comp claims are picked up voluntarily by the carriers and paid. That is efficient and effective coverage for injured workers.

Workers’ Comp should encourage employers to ensure workers are protected and provide wage replacement and rehabilitation supports to injured workers, getting them back to work in the same or a different job—making comparable wages—as soon as possible.

Concerns Raised by Current Bills

• The most recent annual report on Maine’s Workers’ Comp system makes no call for any substantive reform of the current system.
• Most of the changes proposed to date would lead to increased costs; a few run the risk of substantial costs. The lower the cost of Workers’ Comp insurance coverage, the fewer the number of employers who will misclassify employees as independent contractors, preventing a worker from being covered by Workers’ Comp and unemployment insurance; and forcing workers to pay the employer’s share of other payroll taxes.
• The vast majority of the bills roll back many of the 1992 reforms that created our stable and effective Workers’ Comp system. Although well-intended, they would put the system out of balance.

Synopsis of MPBP Recommendations (see full analysis for detail)

Ought To Pass: LD 809

Ought Not To Pass: LD 312, LD 600, LD 601*, LD 758, LD 819**, LD 901, LD 947, LD 1095, LD 1112, LD 1203, LD 1204, LD 1205, LD 1253*, LD 1500 and LD 1501, LD 1623, LD 1624, LD 1625

*Recommendation #1: Limited Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for workers who suffer a total and permanent injury (Section 212) and for the children and spouse of a worker who was fatally injured. The COLA should be tied to the compensation changes of the employer for whom the worker was working at the time (or the Maine wage for the comparable occupation/years of experience in the same NAICS classification) and begin five years after the injury or death, adjusted annually thereafter until reaching the applicable cap (if any).

**Recommendation #2: Maine could do more to address worker misclassification by granting the Workers’ Compensation Board employees more powers to investigate potential instances of misclassification. Additional options could include the suspension of licenses, permits, or certifications for employers that willfully misclassify workers.