Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Repeals Retrospective Workers’ Comp Rating Plan Manual
Dec 23 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance has issued an order to repeal the rules, factors, values, endorsements, and forms in the Texas Retrospective Rating Plan Manual (Texas Retro Plan) for new and renewal workers’...
Workers’ Comp Rates in Washington to Increase 2% In 2016
Dec 21 2015 // The average base rate Washington businesses pay for workers’ compensation insurance will increase by 2 percent in 2016, the state Department of Labor & Industries announced. L&I uses wage inflation as a...
Reforms May Have Caused Drop in Medical Payments in California, Study Shows
Dec 21 2015 // Medical payments per claim in California fell 5 percent in 2013 for claims with more than seven days of lost time at 12 months of experience, a trend that likely reflects the early impact of the 2012 workers’...
The Top Insurance News Stories of the Year 2015
Dec 21 2015 // The year 2015 was a year during which the property/casualty insurance industry got a glimpse at its future in the form of disruptive forces, new competitors, new leaders and emerging risks. Also, some of the news revived...
Fitch: Overall P/C Reserves Adequate; Prior Years’ Favorable Trend Continues
Dec 18 2015 // Property/casualty insurers continued to take down loss reserves for prior years in 2014, which marked the ninth straight calendar year of favorable development for the industry in aggregate, according to a new report from...
Nine Californians Nabbed in $24M Alleged Workers’ Comp Billing Scheme
Dec 17 2015 // Detectives with the California Department of Insurance arrested nine people involved in a complex scheme allegedly targeting more than 230 workers’ compensation insurers and self-insured employers. Siblings Francisco...
11 West Virginia Workers Injured at Chemical Manufacturer Plant
Dec 17 2015 // Eleven contract workers were injured Tuesday in a boiler accident at chemical manufacturer Axiall Corp.’s Natrium plant in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle, the company said. The company said in a statement...
Widow of Former Toledo Mayor Sues for Workers’ Comp Benefits
Dec 14 2015 // The widow of a former Toledo, Ohio, mayor has filed a workers’ compensation suit saying he suffered an injury while working. Former Mayor D. Michael Collins suffered cardiac arrest while driving home from a press...
OSHA Cites West Virginia Logging Company for 22 Safety Violations
Dec 14 2015 // Federal regulators have cited a logging company for 22 serious worker safety violations. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration says Ray Clearing Inc. of Bickmore also was issued one other-than-serious...
Reforms May Have Caused Drop in Medical Payments in California, Study Shows
Dec 10 2015 // Medical payments per claim in California fell 5 percent in 2013 for claims with more than seven days of lost time at 12 months of experience, a trend that likely reflects the early impact of the 2012 workers’...
U.S. Risk Announces Acquisition of Matias Underwriters, LLC.
Dec 10 2015 // Names Glenn Matias National Practice Leader and Vice President for the Workers Compensation Divisions of U.S. Risk Underwriters, Inc. Dallas, TX, December 10, 2015- U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc., the nations’ sixth...
Florida’s Normandy Insurance Hires Primato as Senior Field Underwriter
Dec 10 2015 // Normandy Insurance has hired Frank Primato has been hired as senior field underwriter. In his new position, Primato will develop and service the agency distribution network in Central Florida. Primato has more than 14...
San Antonio Framing Contractor Cited After Worker Falls to Death
Dec 9 2015 // Federal safety officials have cited a San Antonio-based framing contractor after a worker fell 35 feet to his death at a work site in Kyle, Texas. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Longhorn...
Insurance Lies Clients Believe – And Pass on to Others
Dec 7 2015 // Myths, legends and lies are hard to dispel and correct, especially when doing so appears to financially harm the teller or believer. If the myth is true, the client (the teller/believer) does not need to purchase the...
Louisiana Firm Fined $105K Following Deadly Trench Collapse
Dec 7 2015 // Federal workplace safety officials have cited a Baton Rouge, La., contractor following a trench collapse in which Isidro Martinez, 24 was killed. Another worker was pulled to safety by co-workers. The U.S. Department of...
Florida Issues Final Order for NCCI to Decrease Workers’ Comp Rates by 4.7%
Dec 7 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved an overall decrease of 4.7 percent in workers’ compensation insurance rates in Florida. Following the disapproval of its original rate filing request, the...
Workers’ Comp Hearing Rep. in California Caught Cashing Dead Client’s Settlement
Dec 7 2015 // A California workers’ compensation hearing representative was arrested for allegedly trying to steal a settlement check from his client. Department of Insurance detectives arrested Ramon Humerto Otero, 37, of...
Investigation Launched into Workers’ Comp Services Provider BBSI
Dec 7 2015 // A financial investigation was launched in mid-November into Barrett Business Services Inc., a giant professional employer organization that deals with many workers’ compensation carriers. The independent...
Report: Workers’ Comp Reform Saving California’s System $770M Annually
Dec 7 2015 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau in mid-November released this year’s evaluation of California’s workers’ comp reform law. The WCIRB Cost Monitoring Report — 2015...
OSHA: Texas Workers Exposed to Asbestos at Construction Site
Dec 4 2015 // Federal safety regulators say three commercial real estate renovators have been cited for a combined $112,000 in penalties for exposing workers to asbestos hazards at a San Antonio, Texas, worksite. FBZ Broadway LP, One...
