SPRINGFIELD – Public employee pension funds paid $13,984,668,514 in benefits to 438,814 persons in 2012, according to the Illinois Department of Insurance. Benefits averaged $31,869 per person. Retired workers averaged $34,965, while disabled workers averaged $28,338 and survivors averaged $13,951. More than five persons received benefits for every seven active workers. Payroll for 605,872 active workers totaled $32,334,757,164, roughly $2.30 for every pension dollar.
With much of the state's financial crisis being blamed on under-funded public pensions, wouldn't it be great if ordinary taxpayers could see exactly what condition the funds they support are in?
Most folks agree that there are two sides to every story. It seems that only one side of the "malpractice story" has been told. There is another side; and while I freely admit that I am an advocate for this side of the story because it benefits me and my clients, it is still a side worth considering.
Kenneth Printen, M.D. A mass exodus of trial attorneys leaving the state is not likely, laments the head of the Illinois State Medical Society, even though the Association of Trial Attorneys Assurance Mutual (ATLA Mutual) has been declared insolvent.