Benefits paid from the Workers' Benefit Fund
The Workers' Benefit Fund (WBF) pays for several Oregon benefit programs. Cents-per-hour assessments on both employers and employees fund the WBF. The two major programs paid from the WBF are the Retroactive Program, which pays cost-of-living increases for PTD and death benefits, and the Re-employment Assistance Program, which provides incentives to employers to return injured workers to work through the Employer-at-Injury Program (EAIP) and the Preferred Worker Program (PWP).
The majority of the benefits paid for the Retroactive Program are for injuries that occurred before 1990. Therefore, the number of beneficiaries is declining and the WBF is paying less for this program.