Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Alabama Auto Parts Manufacturer Cited for Amputation Hazards After Worker Injury
Oct 29 2019 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Strahle + Hess USA Inc. for exposing employees to amputation hazards at the company’s Auburn, Alabama, facility. The...
WCRI Study Examines Impact of Reforms on New York Workers’ Comp System
Oct 28 2019 // The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) has released a new report for policymakers and system stakeholders to track the performance of the New York workers’ compensation benefit delivery...
Regulator Orders Further Decrease to Proposed Florida Workers’ Comp Rates
Oct 25 2019 // Florida businesses can expect an even greater decrease in workers’ compensation insurance next year, thanks to an order by the state regulator for a further decrease to the recent rate filing proposed by the National...
Profit Lessons in Commercial Auto, Workers Comp and Other Business
Oct 25 2019 // Progressive has a competitive edge over long-term players in the commercial auto insurance market and national carriers outpace regionals on workers compensation profit measures, according to a new report from Guy...
Ohio Roofing Contractor Faces $247.5K in Fines for Workplace Fall Hazards
Oct 23 2019 // A roofing contractor in Martin, Ohio, has been cited for willful, repeated and serious violations of federal workplace safety standards and faces penalties of totaling $247,544. The U.S. Department of Labor’s...
OSHA’s Top 25 Enforcement Cases Based on Total Penalty
Oct 22 2019 // These are the 25 biggest workplace safety and health violation enforcement actions by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Note: After issuance of the initial citation, the penalty amount may...
California Roofer Arrested For Workers’ Comp Fraud, $50K Loss to Insurer
Oct 21 2019 // Herbert Allen Kelly III, 65, of Rancho Murieta, Calif., owner of Kelly Roofing Co., has been arrested on six felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud after allegedly underreporting his business’ payroll and...
California Workers’ Comp Institute Summarizes 2019 Legislation
Oct 21 2019 // Among the 870 bills that California Gov. Gavin Newsom acted upon for 2019 that were passed by the state Legislature, there were about 20 that may hold interest for the workers’ compensation community. The California...
California Balks at Applied Underwriters Sale, Questions Subsidiary’s Move to New Mexico
Oct 21 2019 // The California Department of Insurance has denied an application for approval of the sale of California Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Applied Underwriters that was sold in a massive deal that has been under scrutiny over...
States Vary Widely in How They Control Workers’ Comp Medical Costs: WCRI
Oct 21 2019 // Workers’ compensation medical costs vary widely among the states both in terms of price and how often services are used. The differences appear to relate closely to which cost-drivers each state legislature tried to...
Louisiana Court: Unconfirmed Drug Test Can’t Be Used to Deny Workers’ Comp Claim
Oct 21 2019 // Louisiana’s high court has nixed the idea that an unconfirmed or unverified drug test can be used to prove intoxication or fraud in order to deny the workers’ compensation claim of an injured worker. In doing...
Medical Provider Fraud: The Most Common Schemes to Watch For
Oct 21 2019 // While most insurance claims are legitimate, studies indicate that 10% or more of all property/casualty insurance claims are fraudulent. In the workers’ compensation industry, combatting fraud can seem like a game of...
California Workers’ Comp Bureau Releases Cost Monitoring Update on Reforms
Oct 21 2019 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California in mid-October issued a prospective estimate of the cost impact of Senate Bill 863, the sweeping workers’ comp reform bill signed into law in...
Unconfirmed Drug Test Can’t Be Used to Deny Workers’ Comp Claim: Louisiana Court
Oct 18 2019 // Louisiana’s high court recently nixed the idea that an unconfirmed or unverified drug test can be used to prove intoxication or fraud in order to deny the workers’ compensation claim of an injured worker. In...
Applied Underwriters Sold to Founder in $920M Deal
Oct 16 2019 // Applied Underwriters Inc. and its subsidiary North American Casualty Co. has reportedly been acquired by Applied Underwriters founder Steve Menzies, who was joined in the acquisition by the Quasha Group led by Quadrant...
Arkansas Insurance Dept. Unit Honored for Work Comp Pharmacy Benefits Program
Oct 15 2019 // The State Risk Manager Association recently named the Arkansas Insurance Department’s Public Employee Claims Division (PECD) as the recipient of the 2019 AFIRM Award for its state employee workers’ compensation...
Texas Company Faces $301K in Fines After Employee Fatality
Oct 15 2019 // A Texas company has been cited for workplace safety hazards and fined more than $301,000 after an employee fatality at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in April 2019. The U.S. Department of Labor’s...
California Workers’ Compensation Bureau Testifies on 2020 Advisory Rate Drop
Oct 15 2019 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California on Monday presented the actuarial basis for an average proposed Jan. 1, 2020 advisory pure premium rate of $1.58, which is 5.4 percent less than the...
Workers’ Compensation Rates in Delaware Decrease for Third Year in a Row
Oct 15 2019 // Delaware is set to see a decrease in workers’ compensation insurance rates for the third year in a row, effective December 1, 2019. “I am delighted to approve a decrease in workers’ compensation rates in...
Oregon 2020 Workers’ Compensation Premium Assessment Rates Dropping
Oct 11 2019 // The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services announced an 8.4% average reduction in pure premium rates for employers in 2020. The department each year adopts by rule the workers’ comp premium assessment...
