Latest California Headlines

All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Study Keys on Opioids in California Comp Claims Involving Mental Health

Aug 29 2017 // A new study shows the prevalence of opioids in workers’ compensation claims involving mental health. The study by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute tracks changes in the prevalence, volume and...

California DOI Hearing Date Set for Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Rate Filing

Aug 29 2017 // The California Department of Insurance announced that it will hold a public hearing on Oct. 5 to consider the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s Jan. 1, 2018 pure premium rate filing. The filing...

Zalewski Named Chair of California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board

Aug 29 2017 // California Gov. Jerry Brown has named Katherine Zalewski chair on the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. Zalewski served on the board since her appointment by Brown in 2014. Prior to her appointment, she...

HUB California Adds Brown & Brown’s Caster as Account Executive

Aug 29 2017 // HUB International of California has named Adam Caster an account executive and producer in its La Palma office. Caster reports to Steve Vicencia, executive vice president of HUB International Insurance Services Inc. Caster...

California Bill Targets Sexual Harassment by Venture Capitalists

Aug 29 2017 // A rash of sexual harassment scandals this summer involving venture capitalists has laid bare a major weakness in laws meant to protect workers from unwelcome advances. While legislation is clear on many workplace...

Insurance Pros Make Case for Diversity at IICF Conference in California

Aug 25 2017 // The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation on Thursday convened Southern California insurance industry leaders to explore the impact of fostering an inclusive work environment, with an estimated 200 attendees at its...

California Workers’ Comp Medical Payments Per Claim Fell in 2016, Report Shows

Aug 24 2017 // Medical payments per claim in California’s worker’s compensation system dropped 9 percent in 2016 from two years prior, according to a report issued by the the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating...

California Hospital Workers’ Comp Survey Shows Moderating Losses, Higher Adjustment Expenses

Aug 24 2017 // A survey from 18 hospital systems and more than 44 individual facilities within California shows average losses paid per indemnity claim rose 2.9 percent annually over the past 10 years. Keenan HealthCare and actuarial...

Huge Verdict Upends J&J’s Talc Product Liability Defense Strategy

Aug 23 2017 // A massive California verdict in a lawsuit alleging Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based products cause cancer has opened a new front in the litigation, upending the company’s hopes that the cases were only...

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Names Mann in California Head of E&O

Aug 22 2017 // Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty has named Gary Mann North America head of errors and omissions. He is based in San Francisco, Calif. He reports to Paul Schiavone, North America regional head of financial...

Wildfire in Yosemite National Park Grows, Evacuations Remain in California Town

Aug 22 2017 // Weather conditions have halped crews batttle a blaze in Yosemite National Park that has forced the evacuation of the tiny California community of Wawona. The blaze is now 3,820 acres and is now 17 percent contained. Singh...

Greenberg Traurig Adds Michelman & Robinson’s Sebastinelli in California

Aug 21 2017 // Greenberg Traurig LLP has added insurance regulatory attorney John A. Sebastinelli as shareholder to its policy and insurance regulatory and transactions practices in the firm’s San Francisco, Calif....

Evacuations Ordered for Hundreds of Residents in California, Oregon

Aug 21 2017 // Evacuation orders affecting hundreds of people were issued in California and Oregon as wildfires neared small towns, including one that’s a prime location for viewing the eclipse. About 600 residents were told to...

California Commissioner Launches Investigation into Wells Fargo

Aug 21 2017 // California Commissioner Dave Jones has ordered an investigation into recent allegations that Wells Fargo and National General Insurance improperly charged consumers for “force-placed” auto insurance for...

21 States See Drop in Longer-Term Opioid-Related Workers’ Comp Claims: WCRI

Aug 21 2017 // As states institute opioid policies to address the opioid epidemic, a new study has found considerable decreases in the prevalence of longer-term dispensing of opioids to injured workers in a number of states studied. The...

Increase in California Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Sent to Department of Insurance

Aug 18 2017 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has submitted its Jan. 1, 2018 pure premium rate filing to the California Department of Insurance proposing advisory pure premium rates that average $2.01 per $100 of...

Judge Sends Suit for California Man’s Helicopter Crash Death to Workers’ Comp

Aug 18 2017 // A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died in an ambulance helicopter crash has been thrown out by a judge who said the case must go through California’s workers’ compensation death benefits...

Boseman Named Chief Operating Officer at Brown & Riding in California

Aug 18 2017 // Brown & Riding has named Mike Boseman chief operating officer. Boseman is based out of the company’s Los Angeles, Calif. headquarters and will be responsible for strategic operations, including client and carrier...

Middle Market Growth Spells Opportunity for California’s Insurance Community

Aug 17 2017 // The insurance community has at least two reasons to be interested in a new report on middle market companies, particularly those who are doing business in California. According to a report released this week from American...

Report: Written Premiums for California Comp Insurers to be Flat Through 2017

Aug 17 2017 // Written premiums from workers’ compensation insurers in California for the year are expected to be flat at $18.1 billion compared with 2016 thanks largely to rate decreases, according to analysts with the...