Arizona: Workers’ Compensation Bill Opposed by NAMIC Held in Committee

An Arizona Senate committee held a workers’ compensation bill in committee Feb. 12 that would have hurt employers by changing the current law allowing an employer to recoup their costs for the workers’ compensation benefits they provide an employee when a third party negligently, recklessly, or intentionally causes the employee’s injury.

SB 1498, sponsored by the committee chairman, Sen. J.D. Mesnard, was held in the Senate Committee on Finance after more than a dozen speakers opposed it. NAMIC submitted a letter to the committee opposing the bill.

SB 1498 would make Arizona an outlier and create a system harmful to employers. It would allow personal injury lawyers to pursue lawsuits and structure settlements with at-fault third parties in a way that minimizes or eliminates reimbursement to employers.

Current law allows faultless employers to get a dollar-for-dollar recovery for the costs that they incurred for their employees because of the wrongful act of others. The bill moves employers to the back of the line for reimbursement, which means they will get pennies on the dollar for expenses they incurred because of someone else’s bad act.