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Committee advances increase to WSI home and vehicle adaptation caps after agency support
Summary
House Bill 1423 would raise WSI’s caps for home adaptations and motor-vehicle modifications for severely injured workers; WSI staff told lawmakers the agency supports raising the caps and asked that any CPI adjustments be rounded to the nearest $500.
House Bill 1423 would raise the statutory caps that Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI) may pay for adaptations to an injured worker’s home and purchase or adaptation of motor vehicles. Sponsor Representative Cynthia Schreiberbeck said the real-estate adaptation cap would rise from $75,000 to $150,000 and the motor-vehicle adaptation cap from $150,000 to $200,000 under the amendment presented to the committee. The sponsor said several claimants are near current caps and the home cap had not been raised since 2011.
Jody Bjornson, general counsel for WSI, told the committee the WSI board “generally supports an increase in the fee caps” and is neutral regarding a proposed yearly adjustment tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Bjornson provided data showing the five-year average payout for vehicle modifications is roughly $112,000 and the five-year average for home modifications is about $38,000; she said only a small number of claimants approach current caps. WSI recommended rounding any CPI-based adjustment to the nearest $500 to simplify administration.
Committee members discussed whether to include an automatic CPI adjustment or simply set higher fixed caps. Representative Koppelman noted that CPI-based escalation would yield numbers similar to the amendment and that construction costs can outpace general CPI; members said they would consider administration simplicity versus future-proofing. Representative Ruby offered an amendment to remove the CPI escalator; the motion failed on committee roll call.
The committee adopted the sponsor’s amendment raising the caps and keeping the CPI provision in the adopted amendment. After final roll call, the committee voted to give House Bill 1423 a due-pass recommendation as amended; the committee also selected a floor carrier.
