Senator Mark Green, a physician and vice-chairman of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, and Representative Jeremy Durham, House Majority Whip, introduced a bill to create the Tennessee Option, a free market alternative to state-mandated workers’ compensation insurance. Sen. Jack Johnson, chairman of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, is co-sponsoring the Senate bill. Rep. Glen Casada, chairman of the House Republican Caucus, is co-sponsoring the version in the House of Representatives.
"The core focus of the Tennessee Option is to help injured employees get back to work faster.
Making that happen requires good benefits, strong communication, and will lead to higher employee satisfaction," said Sen. Green. “An Option will also give job creators a way to save more than 50% on workers’ comp costs, so they can invest in growth and more employees.”
The Tennessee Option will create an alternative way for employers to provide traditional workers’ compensation benefits – medical, wage replacement, etc. – under an injury benefit plan. Sen. Green’s said the bill eliminates the need for volumes of statutes, paperwork, and litigated decisions, while still delivering employee protections and accountability. Employers using an Option in the two states that currently allow it – Texas and Oklahoma – see improved employee satisfaction following an injury and lower program costs, which creates economic development opportunities.
"We will cut red tape for Tennessee businesses with the Tennessee Option. That is reason alone to pass the legislation," said Rep. Jeremy Durham. “If we want to make Tennessee a better place to work and live, we have to take bold steps like this to help employers while still protecting employees.”
Oklahoma passed Option legislation in 2013, and Texas has allowed alternative injury benefit programs for more than 100 years. Texas employers using the Option have saved billions of dollars while increasing employee satisfaction and return-to-work rates. The Tennessee Option will not replace workers’ comp; instead, it will act as a competitive pressure on the system to produce better outcomes for the true stakeholders – employees and their employers.
“We have the opportunity here to help Tennessee employees, Tennessee employers, and Tennessee economic development,” Sen. Green concluded. “I look at the Tennessee Option as a way to set our state apart when companies are looking to locate here and create hundreds or thousands of jobs, because that’s why I was elected – to get Tennessee back to work.”