Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
OSHA: Company Ignored Safety Rule at Louisiana Site; Faces $226K in Fines
Apr 10 2016 // The federal government says an Illinois tank cleaning company’s violation of safety rules killed a New Orleans employee and injured two others in October. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is...
Ohio Woman Pleads Guilty to Workers’ Comp Fraud, Owes $94K
Apr 10 2016 // A Youngstown, Ohio, woman has been ordered to repay the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) nearly $94,000 in workplace injury benefits she collected illegally. The Ohio BWD reported that Zelma Forro pleaded...
Washington Port to Pay $16M to Injured Worker
Apr 7 2016 // The Port of Bellingham in Washington has been ordered to pay $16 million to an Alaska ferries employee who was injured while operating a faulty loading ramp at the port’s cruise terminal. The Seattle Times reported...
Florida Business Owner Arrested for $1.8M Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme
Apr 7 2016 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced the arrest of Maira Chirinos, owner of Pompano Beach construction company Tocoa Builders, Inc. Chirinos is alleged to have misrepresented information regarding Tocoa...
Here’s What’s Happening with Drug Costs in Workers’ Compensation
Apr 7 2016 // Overall pharmacy spending increased 2.2 percent for U.S. workers’ compensation payers in 2015 due to higher drug prices, according to a report by benefit manager Express Scripts. That overall increase was a function...
California Workers’ Comp Committee Votes for Lower Mid-Year Filing
Apr 6 2016 // The governing committee of the California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau voted unanimously on Wednesday to authorize the WCIRB to submit a mid-year pure premium rate reduction filing to the California...
Maryland’s Chesapeake Employers to Begin Phasing in NCCI Rates in 2020
Apr 5 2016 // Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, Maryland’s largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance, announced its plan to phase in the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s (NCCI) rating...
Travelers Predictive Model Helps Injured Workers Avoid Chronic Pain, Opioid Use
Apr 5 2016 // The country’s largest workers’ compensation insurer said it has developed a model to predict the likelihood of an injured worker developing chronic pain. The model can them help the workers take steps to avoid...
Understanding Workers’ Comp Combinability
Apr 5 2016 // Consolidating separate legal entities’ loss experience to develop a common experience modification factor has the potential to cause confusion for the client and sometimes the agent. Clients may view such mixing of...
Florida Arrests 10 in Undercover Workers’ Comp Sting
Apr 4 2016 // The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF) announced 10 arrests following a multi-agency undercover workers’ compensation sting in Manatee County. According to a statement...
K2 Insurance Acquires MGA, Launches Workers’ Comp, Accident Program with QBE
Apr 4 2016 // Program specialist K2 Insurance Services (K2) has acquired a New Jersey managing general agency specializing in workers’ compensation alternatives and also launched a nationwide workers’ compensation program...
July Explosion Leads to OSHA Fine for New Mexico Pot Business
Apr 4 2016 // A medical marijuana dispensary in New Mexico has been fined for safety violations after an explosion badly burned two workers. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration spent about eight months...
Massachusetts Court Rules on ‘Equitable Contribution’ Case
Apr 4 2016 // Massachusetts’ top court ruled in March that a workers’ compensation insurer that has paid benefits has a right to pursue “equitable contribution” from a second insurer that also provided coverage...
Buehrer Resigns from Ohio Workers’ Comp Bureau
Apr 3 2016 // The head of the Ohio’s insurance fund for injured workers is stepping down from his job this month. Gov. John Kasich’s office announced that Steve Buehrer is resigning as administrator and CEO of the Ohio...
OSHA: No Reinforced Walls in Deadly Ohio Trench Collapse
Apr 1 2016 // The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says inspectors probing a construction site where a worker was killed this week found no evidence the wall of the trench was reinforced. Cleveland.com reports OSHA...
Amerisure Promotes Vaughn to AVP, Workers’ Comp Claims
Apr 1 2016 // Amerisure Mutual Insurance Co., based in Farmington Hills, Mich., has promoted Kimberly Vaughn to assistant vice president, workers’ compensation (WC) claims. In her new role, Vaughn oversees the day-to-day...
Workers’ Comp Costs Decline in Arkansas
Mar 31 2016 //
Massachusetts Court Rules on ‘Equitable Contribution’ Case
Mar 30 2016 // Massachusetts’ top court ruled this month that a workers’ compensation insurer that has paid benefits under a policy has a right to pursue “equitable contribution” from a second insurer that also...
OSHA, Anheuser-Busch’s N.J. Subsidiary Resolve Safety Violations
Mar 30 2016 // Federal labor officials have reached a deal with a New Jersey-based subsidiary of the world’s largest beer maker to settle claims of safety violations at a distribution warehouse. The Occupational Safety and Health...
Why Companies Won’t Be Opting Out of Opt-Out Anytime Soon
Mar 29 2016 // A recent ruling by the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Court undercutting so-called “opt-out” systems has set off a flurry of speculation about such systems, including whether this ruling signals the...
