Second Injury Fund Update: Missouri Legislative Session Ends without Action

A lot of clients have called recently and asked what the legislature has done about saving the Second Injury Fund.  Jill Bollwerk and other attorneys and their clients lobbied the legislature several weeks ago, imploring our representatives to save the Second Injury Fund--particularly for those who have gone through the workers compensation and court systems and have proven their right to lifetime benefits and, thus, are legally entitled to those benefits. 

What Has the Legislature Done about the Second Injury Fund?
The short answer to the question is this:  nothing.  The Missouri legislative session ended mid-May without any action taken on several alternative bills that were proposed in order to address the near bankruptcy of the Second Injury Fund. As a result, the Second Injury Fund is projected to run out of money any day now.  And disabled workers who rely on these bi-weekly benefits are going to be wondering what they are supposed to do when the checks stop coming.

These people are entitled to their benefits. They proved their entitlement in our judicial system. However, they are going to have to chase our government for their payments like a dead-beat father.

Experienced Missouri Workers' Comp Lawyers Looking for a Solution
We at Bollwerk, Ryan & Tatlow are researching ways to enforce the judgments our clients have obtained against the Second Injury Fund, but there is no easy answer. We have instructed our clients to let us know if a check is not received in a timely fashion and we will jump into action to do whatever we can, under the law, to enforce their legal entitlement to benefits.