South Carolina Governor Sanford Signs Workers' Compensation Reform Bill

Bill Aimed At Stopping Spiraling Insurance Costs That Hurt Businesses' Ability To Grow, Compete

Columbia, S.C. - June 25, 2007 - South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford today joined with business groups from across South Carolina to sign the workers' compensation reform bill, a measure aimed at curbing recent business insurance cost increases that harm businesses and consumers.

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Workers' compensation reform has been a top priority for Gov. Sanford this year, one that he laid out in his State of the State as being key to our state's continued ability to attract and grow businesses. The changes made in the bill, S.332, are aimed at injecting some much-needed predictability, consistency, and rationality into the workers' compensation system in South Carolina.

"We believe this bill will have a material impact in improving our workers' compensation system, a system that had unfortunately become too subjective, was hurting our small businesses' ability to compete, and was driving up costs for the average South Carolinian," Gov. Sanford said. "I'd give real credit to many of the business groups in our state and to reform-minded legislators who pushed for these changes, because the unfortunate reality is that one of the main impediments to getting this bill passed sooner were some of the lawyer-legislators who vote on these reforms and make millions from the current system. Even though this bill represents a big step forward, it does fall short on the idea of making workers' compensation awards based upon objective standards, something we continue to believe needs to be addressed."

Among the improvements made in the bill are: abolishing the Second Injury Fund, stronger language on costly "repetitive trauma" claims; stricter requirements for medical expert testimony; and changes to the "50 percent back" rule, which before presumed total back loss with many workplace injuries.

Last year, South Carolina's workers' comp premiums grew more than 18 percent and our state ranks second in the nation since 2000 in terms of how quickly rates have increased. Meanwhile, reform in other states has produced insurance premium rate reductions for their businesses - California has seen a cumulative rate reduction of 55 percent since July 2003 while Florida's workers' compensation filings - which impact the cost of premiums - have seen a 13 percent decrease this year alone.

Source: South Carolina Governor