Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Former Verizon N.Y. Employee Lied About Injuries, Collected $19K in Workers’ Comp
Dec 8 2020 // A former Verizon New York employee who allegedly lied to doctors about arm injuries to obtain more than $19,000 in workers’ compensation benefits has been arrested. This comes after surveillance videos showed her...
Expansion of Workers’ Compensation for COVID-19 in 6 States Created Narrow Benefit
Dec 8 2020 // While at least 17 states have passed laws or issued orders that expanded access to workers’ compensation benefits for employees who contract COVID-19, many of those directives are creating new exposure for only a...
California Workers’ Comp Attorney Arrested for $310K Fraud Scheme
Dec 4 2020 // Moses Luna, 73, of Newport Beach, Calif., was arrested this week on 20 felony counts of insurance fraud after allegedly billing 20 separate insurance companies for translation and interpreting services to collect over...
Transit Worker Can Be Compensated, Cannot Sue Employer for Assault Injuries
Dec 4 2020 // A District of Columbia appeals court held that a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) worker cannot sue his employer after requesting compensation under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act for an...
Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Decrease of 9.2% Approved in Tennessee
Dec 3 2020 // Workers’ compensation rates in Tennessee are expected to decrease next year after a 9.2% overall loss cost decrease was approved. Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance Commissioner Carter Lawrence approved...
California Roof Company Owner Arraigned In $4M Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme
Dec 2 2020 // Judy Hein, 71, of Oxnard, Calif., was arraigned on five felony counts of insurance fraud after allegedly underreporting payroll for her Simi Valley roofing business by over $4 million, resulting in more than a $2 million...
Workers’ Comp Insurance MGU Method Adapts Cutting Edge AI Solution to Streamline Underwriting
Dec 1 2020 // Nashville, TN, December 1, 2020 – Method has partnered with Gradient AI to incorporate state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) solutions into the underwriting process. Method utilizes...
No Increase in Average Washington Workers’ Comp in 2021
Nov 30 2020 // For the first time in two decades, Washington workers’ compensation rates have dropped or stayed steady for four years in a row. The state Department of Labor & Industries on Monday announced there will be no...
Nevada Supreme Court Rules Undocumented Injured Worker Can Get Benefits
Nov 25 2020 // The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that an undocumented worker is entitled to permanent disability. The court ruled on Nov. 23 that an undocumented worker suffering trauma due to a workplace accident is entitled to...
California OKs Workers’ Comp Advisory Rates, No Virus Adjustment for Now
Nov 25 2020 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has adopted and issued a revised average advisory pure premium rate, lowering the benchmark to $1.45 per $100 of payroll for workers’ compensation insurance, effective...
Minnesota Fraud Bureau: Insurance Fraud Referrals Up in 2019 but not for Agents
Nov 24 2020 // While Minnesota insurance regulators saw an uptick in the number of fraud case referrals during 2019, agent and broker fraud referrals were down significantly that year, the most recent for which insurance fraud statistics...
California Electrician Arraigned in $63K Workers’ Comp Scheme
Nov 24 2020 // Mark Redheffer, 48, of Fontana, Calif., was arraigned on felony counts of insurance fraud and attempted perjury after allegedly lying and concealing information in a workers’ compensation claim to receive more than...
Chief Actuary Antonello to Be Next CEO of Employers Holdings
Nov 20 2020 // Small business workers’ compensation insurance specialist Employers Holdings Inc. has named Katherine H. Antonello as its president and chief executive officer. She will take over upon the retirement of Douglas D....
N.Y. Woman Sentenced for Stealing More Than $3K in Workers’ Comp Benefits
Nov 19 2020 // A New York woman who stole $3,065.28 in workers’ compensation benefits by forging her late father’s name in order to cash the checks has been sentenced to one year in jail. Bonnie S. Slater of Randolph, N.Y.,...
Illinois Fines Continental Indemnity, Applied Underwriters $250K for Unapproved Sales
Nov 18 2020 // Two former Berkshire Hathaway companies have been hit with a $250,000 fine by Illinois regulators for selling unapproved workers’ compensation policies to small businesses. The Illinois Department of Insurance says...
Bindley Capital, ForeSight Medical Ex-CEO Acquire Workers’ Comp Dental Provider
Nov 18 2020 // Bindley Capital Partners and Brian Bell, the founder and former chief executive officer of ForeSight Medical, have acquired a specialty dental firm serving workers’ compensation patients. Based in Tampa, DentalWorks...
Labor, Civil Rights Groups’ Lawsuit Claims Iowa Failed to Protect Workers
Nov 16 2020 // Eight Iowa labor and civil rights groups have filed a federal complaint alleging the state has failed to protect workers in meatpacking, dairy, construction, transportation, health care facilities, nursing homes and other...
COVID-19 and Workers’ Comp a Moving Target, But Some Certainties Exist for Employers
Nov 16 2020 // This year could be the most controversial rate recommendation in the 107-year history of the California workers’ compensation system. Why? Because we are dealing with a virus we’ve never experienced before. The...
25K Virus-Linked Claims Filed with Texas Workers’ Comp Carriers Through June 30
Nov 13 2020 // As of Sept. 27, workers’ compensation insurance carriers in Texas had reported more than 25,000 COVID-19 claims and 103 fatalities to the state’s regulators. The numbers cover virus-related claims reported to...
Frank Winston Crum Expands GL, Excess Programs into N.C., S.C., Tenn.
Nov 12 2020 // Frank Winston Crum Insurance (FWCI) has launched general liability and excess liability insurance programs in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to coincide with its previously available worker’s...