By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – A study requested by Missouri Governor Matt Blunt on the state's Second Injury fund has been made public.
The fund is used to pay already-disabled workers who suffer additional on-the-job injuries. A recently-conducted state audit claims the fund is going broke, and the new study agrees with the audit on most points.
Chris Walker of PricewaterhouseCoopers, which conducted the study, says one factor is an increase in payments for claims that have already been resolved,
"These claims are very expensive these claims, by our estimates, are averaging in the current years about $900,000 over the life of a claim but what's happening is that the fund is, roughly, resolving about 80 or 90 of these very serious claims a year."
State Auditor Susan Montee says her audit differs slightly from the governor's study, because the data used for each were spaced 5 months apart.
She also claims the second study was commissioned in order to give Blunt political ammunition to use against Attorney General Jay Nixon, who's running for governor next year.
KWMU contacted Governor Blunt's office, but no one has issued a response.