Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Utility Contractor Faces Nearly $19K in Fines for Safety Hazards
Jun 25 2018 // South Florida utility contractor Douglas N. Higgins is facing $18,659 in proposed penalties after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited the contractor for exposing...
California Workers’ Comp Rating Bureau Exploring Blockchain, Behavioral Science
Jun 22 2018 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv One wouldn’t normally associate blockchain with workers’ compensation, two completely different industries that seem worlds apart. But as it turns out, the technology is of value...
Beverly Hills Doctor Sentenced to 10 Years in Workers’ Comp Scam
Jun 21 2018 // A Beverly Hills, Calif. doctor has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a massive fraud scheme. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Dr. Ronald Grusd was convicted in December of 39 charges,...
Report: California Self-Insured Workers’ Comp Claims Rose Only Slightly Last Year
Jun 21 2018 // California public self-insured workers’ compensation claims from fiscal year 2016-2017 rose less than 0.4 percent compared to the corresponding data from the prior year despite a 2.9 percent Increase in covered...
Texas Attorney Charged with Workers’ Compensation Fraud
Jun 20 2018 // Workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported that a Travis County grand jury has indicted attorney Leslie Casaubon of Lewisville, Texas, on three counts of workers’ compensation...
Court Rules Failed California Workers’ Comp Insurer Can’t Use Special Funds for Administrative Expenses
Jun 20 2018 // The Appellate Court of Illinois has issued a decision supporting California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and the California Insurance Guarantee Association’s position that Lumbermens California workers’...
Maine Employers Are Not Required to Reimburse Employees for Medical Marijuana Use
Jun 19 2018 // The Maine Supreme Court has ruled that employers in the state are not required to reimburse employees for their use of medical marijuana under the Maine workers’ compensation system because federal law preempts state...
Workers’ Comp Insurance Rate Pre-Approval Passes in Illinois
Jun 18 2018 // The Illinois General Assembly at the end of May passed a bill that requires the pre-approval of workers’ compensation insurance rates by the Illinois Department of Insurance. The legislation also “permits...
Nearly One-Third of Workers’ Comp Claim Payments Due to Construction Falls
Jun 18 2018 // Over the past five years, Nationwide processed more than 10,000 workers’ compensation claims due to a multitude of accidents from construction-related businesses. One of the most common — and costly —...
California State Fund Says It Reduced Opioid Prescriptions by 60%
Jun 18 2018 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund is reporting a significant reduction in the number of opioid prescriptions for injured workers through a program launched four years ago. State Fund’s...
People
Jun 18 2018 // EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants has added risk management and insurance professionals Rose Nordbrock, Jeff Breskin, Pabla Barros and Jose Fuentes to the firm’s operations in Southern California. Nordbrock...
OSHA Seeking $65K in Penalties in Colorado Envirotech Worker Death
Jun 18 2018 // Federal regulators are proposing nearly $65,000 in penalties for a Colorado company where a worker died after inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning the inside of a rail car. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration...
Digital Workers’ Comp Agency Pie Insurance Enters 3 More States
Jun 18 2018 // Digital agency Pie Insurance has begun selling its low-cost small business workers’ compensation insurance policies online in Colorado, Louisiana and Texas. That brings the total states for Pie to seven, as in March...
WCIRB: California Workers’ Comp Written Premium to be Down Again This Year
Jun 15 2018 // Lower workers’ compensation rates in California will bring down written premium once again this year, according to a forecast from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. That revelation is expected...
Wisconsin Contractor Cited, Fined $120.3K for Workplace Safety Hazards
Jun 15 2018 // Federal safety officials have cited a Wisconsin roofing contractor for exposing employees to falls and other safety hazards at two separate job sites. Penalties proposed for Appleton roofing contractor Hector Hernandez by...
Greenwalt Named General Counsel at Oklahoma’s Workers’ Comp Commission
Jun 15 2018 // The Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) has named Sarah Greenwalt as the agency’s new general counsel, effective June 25. Greenwalt most recently served as senior counsel to the administrator of the...
Brown Appointed Texas Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation
Jun 14 2018 // Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Cassie Brown as Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). She succeeds Ryan Brannan, who left the division on May 1. Brown’s term expires...
How Prices for Injured Workers’ Medical Professional Care Compare in 35 States: WCRI
Jun 14 2018 // Prices paid for medical professional services vary significantly across states, ranging from 26 percent below the median in Florida to 158 percent above median in Wisconsin, according to a 35-state study. States with no...
West Virginia Supreme Court Says Widow Entitled to Husband’s Workers’ Comp Benefits
Jun 14 2018 // The West Virginia Supreme Court says a Rhode Island woman whose husband died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a hotel is entitled to West Virginia workers’ compensation benefits. The state Workers’ Compensation...
California Doctor Indicted in $700K Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme
Jun 13 2018 // Dr. Gary Royce Wisner, 61, of Lodi, Calif., is scheduled for arraignment today at the San Joaquin County Superior Court on 11 felony counts of insurance fraud for allegedly bilking insurers out of more than $700,000 by...
