Senate committee gives unanimous do-pass to bill raising WSI caps for home and vehicle adaptations

Representative Cynthia Schreiber Beck, District 25, told the Senate Industry and Business Committee that House Bill 1423 would raise Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI) benefit caps for adaptations to real estate and motor vehicles. The committee voted 5-0 to give the bill a do-pass recommendation.

The bill would raise the cap for real-estate adaptations from $75,000 to $150,000 and the cap for vehicle purchase or modification from $150,000 to $200,000. Schreiber Beck said the real-estate cap has not been increased since 2011 and the vehicle cap since 2013.

The change matters because the caps govern payments to injured workers for home modifications or modified vehicles that are necessary because of a workplace injury. Jody Bjornson of Workforce Safety & Insurance testified in support and described how benefits are approved: a doctor’s order triggers an occupational-therapy assessment, a third-party reviewer prepares estimates, and a WSI committee audits those estimates for medical necessity and cost-effectiveness.

WSI presented historical and distributional data to the committee. According to testimony, as of a January 17, 2025 data pull there were three injured employees with motor-vehicle benefits in the $140,000–$150,000 range and a similar small number near the home-modification cap. WSI said average annual payouts for remodeling benefits across fiscal 2020–2024 were about $38,000 and the average vehicle benefit over the same period was about $112,521. WSI’s actuaries told the committee that the proposed increases would affect only a very small subset of catastrophic claims and were not expected to materially affect insurance rates or reserve levels.

Committee members asked how benefits are used over time. Witnesses said real-estate modifications are typically paid incrementally as needs arise until a cap is reached; vehicle purchases are generally made up front with some additional modification costs later. A WSI representative also said the largest open claim reserve on the books was roughly $20 million.

Senator Kessel made the motion for a do-pass recommendation; Senator Klein seconded it. The roll call produced a 5-0 do-pass vote. The committee asked for a carrier to shepherd the bill; Senator Kessel volunteered.

The hearing record shows the original bill included an annual adjustment tied to the consumer price index, but that provision was removed in the House. The committee closed the hearing with the recommendation and no amendments recorded at the Senate hearing.

Votes at a glance: House Bill 1423 — Motion: due pass; mover: Senator Kessel; second: Senator Klein; committee vote: 5 yes, 0 no; outcome: do pass.