Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Workers’ Comp Written Premium in California Fell Slightly in 2017
Apr 13 2018 // Written premium in California workers’ compensation fell slightly last year, the first time that’s happened in seven years, according to a new report out. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau...
Three Highway Workers Injured in I-80 Crash in Pennsylvania
Apr 12 2018 // Authorities say three highway workers were struck and injured on an eastern Pennsylvania interstate. Officials said the accident happened Tuesday afternoon in a construction zone where they were patching potholes in the...
Smith Named Executive Director of Oklahoma Workers’ Comp Commission
Apr 11 2018 // Hopper Smith has been hired as executive director of the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC). Smith, a retired Brigadier General, will begin serving in the post on May 1. Smith succeeds interim Executive...
California Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Could be Lowered 7th Straight Time
Apr 9 2018 // Hailing worker’s compensation reform in California as a “big hit,” the two top people at the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau explained why the WCIRB governing committee on Monday...
Texas Workers’ Comp Commissioner to Leave Post May 1
Apr 9 2018 // The Texas Department of Insurance announced that Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Ryan Brannan will leave his position effective May 1. Brannan was appointed to lead the Texas Department of Insurance’s,...
Thatcher Joins Ohio Workers’ Comp Insurer as Inclusion & Diversity Director
Apr 9 2018 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has hired its first director of Inclusion & Diversity. Carolina Thatcher assumes the role following a similar stint with the Ohio Department of Job and Family...
Kentucky to Move Ahead With Overhaul of Workers’ Comp System
Apr 9 2018 // Kentucky is officially moving forward on making the biggest changes to the workers’ compensation system in decades. The legislation – backed by business groups but opposed by organized labor groups – was passed...
Florida Gov Signs Bill Giving Workers’ Comp Benefits to First Responders
Apr 9 2018 // Florida will expand workers compensation benefits so first responders can get coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder. Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed the bill March 27 that allows firefighters, paramedics, and...
California Workers’ Comp Committee Votes to Lower Mid-Year Filing
Apr 5 2018 // The California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s governing committee has voted to authorize the WCIRB to submit a lower mid-year pure premium rate filing to the California Department of Insurance...
Navigators to Offer Protective’s Workers’ Compensation as Part of Multiline Offerings
Apr 5 2018 // The Navigators Group, Inc. and Protective Insurance have agreed to an underwriting partnership offering Protective’s workers’ compensation coverage to Navigators’ insureds. Navigators said the partnership...
Delaware Judge Rejects Workers’ Comp for Paralegal’s Softball Injury
Apr 4 2018 // A Delaware judge says a paralegal injured while playing on his law firm’s softball team is not entitled to workers’ compensation. The judge ruled late last week that Delaware’s Industrial Accident Board...
How Medical Marijuana Reduces Opioid Use; Saves Lives, Money
Apr 3 2018 // Medical marijuana laws could be a boon to those battling the opioid epidemic, according to researchers who have identified a link between increased access to medical marijuana and a reduction in opioid prescriptions. The...
Texas Landscaper Must Pay $400K in Workers’ Comp Fraud Case
Apr 3 2018 // A Pflugerville, Texas, landscape company pleaded guilty March 21 to misrepresenting its payroll so it could pay less for workers’ compensation coverage, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. Jammers...
New Jersey Woman Charged with Stealing More Than $46K in Workers’ Comp Benefits
Apr 3 2018 // A Jersey City, N.J., woman has been charged with stealing more than $46,000 by fraudulently collecting her mother’s workers’ comp dependency benefits for nearly three years after she died. Wanda Berry was...
Workers’ Compensation Insurer Stonetrust Enters Missouri, Tennessee
Apr 3 2018 // Workers’ compensation insurer Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Co. has begun writing business in Missouri and Tennessee. Stonetrust, which is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is also writing in Louisiana,...
Arizona Governor OKs Bill Preventing Over-Prescribing of Opioids
Apr 2 2018 // Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has approved legislation that will protect injured workers from being over-prescribed addictive opioids and help control escalating medical costs in the workers’ compensation system,...
Ohio Manufacturer Settles Health, Safety Violations Case for $1M
Apr 2 2018 // An Ohio auto parts manufacturer has agreed to a settlement that includes a $1 million penalty resulting from workplace health and safety violations, federal safety officials said. The U.S. Department of Labor’s...
Indiana Workers’ Comp Formulary Bill Sent to Governor
Apr 2 2018 // The Indiana General Assembly passed legislation that adopts a drug formulary for the state’s workers’ compensation system. SB 369 was sent to Gov. Gov. Eric Holcomb for his signature on March 21. The Property...
Texas Sets Workers’ Comp Discount, Interest Rate at 5.58%
Mar 28 2018 // The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation has set the workers’ comp interest/discount rate for April 1 through June 30, 2018, at 5.58 percent. This rate is computed by using the...
Workers’ Compensation Costs to Drop in Arkansas
Mar 27 2018 // Arkansas businesses will see a decrease in workers’ compensation insurance costs beginning in July. Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr today has approved a decrease in workers’ compensation cost of 15.4...
