Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report: Medical Costs for Workers’ Comp Rose 11% Nationally
Jul 3 2024 // Medical costs for workers’ compensation increased nationally 11% and first-party claims grew 5% over the last four years, a new report shows. Enlyte’s “Quarterly Medical Price Index (MPI) Report,”...
Marshall Elected Chair of Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
Jul 2 2024 // Wesley G. Marshall has been elected to a three-year term as chairman of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (VWC), effective July 1, 2024. He succeeds Commissioner Robert A. Rapaport, whose term ended June...
Rhode Island Guarantees Domestic Workers Minimum Wage, Not Workers’ Compensation
Jul 2 2024 // Domestic workers in Rhode Island will now be paid the state’s minimum wage under a bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Daniel McKee. Traditionally, domestic workers haven’t been given that protection as the...
Report Keys on Impacts of Economic Changes on California Workers’ Comp
Jul 2 2024 // Projected changes to California workers’ comp claims frequency and severity due to industry mix of employment are negligible through 2026, while employment in most industries fully recovered from the initial pandemic...
Insurer Can’t Rescind Workers’ Comp Policy, Even With Misrep, MS High Court Says
Jul 1 2024 // An insurer cannot rescind a workers’ compensation policy, even in the case of a material misrepresentation that could led to millions of dollars in benefits payments, the Mississippi Supreme Court decided last...
Report: Combined California Workers’ Comp Losses and Expenses Down in 2023
Jul 1 2024 // Total insurer combined losses and expenses incurred in 2023 were down, a new report shows. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California released its report on workers’ compensation losses and...
NCCI Identifies ‘Big 3′ Workers’ Comp Issues to Watch
Jul 1 2024 // Employers will face three major workplace safety challenges in the coming years, but all can be mitigated through evolving safety solutions, workers’ compensation professionals say. The report, Challenges for...
California Workers’ Comp Med-Legal Costs up Sharply Under New Fee Schedule
Jun 28 2024 // Payments for medical-legal evaluations and reports used to resolve medical disputes in California worker injury claims rose more than expected since a new Med-Legal Fee Schedule (MLFS) took effect in 2021, according to a...
No Workers’ Comp for Employee Injured When Vehicle Crashed Through Her Office Wall
Jun 28 2024 // An employee at the Virginia Department of Health who was seriously injured when a vehicle crashed through the wall of her first floor office is not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The Virginia...
Massachusetts Orders 14.6% Cut in Workers’ Compensation Rates
Jun 27 2024 // Massachusetts businesses will see an average 14.6% reduction in workers’ compensation rates—a cut that is almost twice the size of what the insurance industry’s rating bureau proposed in its filing. The lower...
Report: Nearly All California Worker’s Comp IMR Filings Were Eligible for Review
Jun 26 2024 // Nearly all independent medical review filings were deemed eligible for review last year, slightly less than the annual percentage for those filed in 2022, according to California Division of Workers’...
Alabama Company Pays $81,000 OSHA Fine After Worker’s Fatal Fall
Jun 25 2024 // The U.S. Department of Labor has fined an Alabama mobile home manufacturer more than $81,000 after a worker without fall protection slipped and fell to his death last November. The department’s Occupational Safety...
Cal/OSHA Board Adopts Workplace Standard for Indoor Heat
Jun 25 2024 // A California workplace safety oversight board adopted a new standard for indoor workplaces to enact safety measures when the temperature reaches 87°F. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved an indoor...
Excessive Heat An Increasing Concern in Workers Comp: WCRI
Jun 20 2024 // With temperatures pushing above 90 degrees in parts of the Midwest and Northeast United States this week, many American workers are clocking in during what AccuWeather described as an “intense heat wave that is...
California Workers’ Comp Institute Examines Presumption for Ag Heat Injuries
Jun 18 2024 // A bill that would give a presumption of compensability to farmworker heat-related injury claims if an employer is found to be out of compliance with Cal/OSHA’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard would likely...
OSHA Cites Contractor 32 Times in 4 Months for Alleged Deadly Fall Hazards
Jun 14 2024 // Federal officials say a New Jersey construction contractor with a history of ignoring federal fall safety standards has again been found exposing employees to potentially deadly fall hazards in eight work site...
Employee Who Was Trapped in Elevator Denied Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Jun 13 2024 // A health insurance company employee who was trapped in an elevator for about 30 minutes has been denied workers’ compensation benefits. The employee did not suffer any physical injury while she was trapped in the...
Workers’ Comp Fraud Task Force Uncovers $30M Scheme in California
Jun 12 2024 // A pair of businessmen were arraigned on multiple felony counts including insurance fraud, grand theft, and tax fraud after a California Department of Insurance investigation found they allegedly underreported over $29.2...
Tech Update: USI’s Tech-Enabled Risk Control Platform; Baldwin Group Starts API-Connected Cyber Placements; AI-Based Workers Comp Fraud Detection at CLARA
Jun 6 2024 // USI Insurance Services (USI) announced the launch of PATH (patent pending), a proprietary technology-enabled risk control platform for clients. The new platform leverages industry-specific benchmark data to generate...
Private Equity Firm Invests in Injured Worker Case Manager Allegiant Medical Care
Jun 6 2024 // Council Capital, a healthcare-focused private equity firm, has acquired Allegiant Managed Care, a nurse case management company providing services within workers’ compensation and other property/casualty insurance...
