Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Another Insurance Fraud Reminder
Nov 29 2017 // Two recent stories in Insurance Journal caught my eye and gave me this topic. Florida Puts Worker’s Comp Carrier Guarantee Insurance In Receivership Florida Keys Insurance Agent Accused of Defrauding Citizens...
Patriot National to Reorganize for Acquiring Lenders; Subsidiaries to File Chapter 11
Nov 29 2017 // Patriot National Inc., which provides technology, outsourcing and underwriting services to the insurance industry, has announced a plan of reorganization as part of a restructuring support agreement (RSA) with its lenders,...
Workers’ Compensation Still Under Pressure from Drug Repackagers, Compounding Pharmacies
Nov 27 2017 // Though the number of physician dispensed prescriptions has declined considerably from just a few years ago, the workers’ compensation industry continues to battle a market seeking to maintain high prices by changing...
Wisconsin Corn Milling Plant Fined over $1.8M After Fatal Grain Dust Explosion
Nov 22 2017 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed $1,837,861 in fines against Didion Milling Inc. in Cambria, Wisconsin, following a May 31, 2017, explosion that killed...
California Workers’ Comp Department Suspends 9 Medical Providers for Fraud
Nov 22 2017 // The Division of Workers’ Compensation has suspended nine more medical providers from participating in California’s workers’ compensation system, bringing the total number of providers suspended this year...
Small Businesses Want More Self-Service Workers’ Comp Tools: Survey
Nov 22 2017 // Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of America’s small business owners believe workers’ compensation carriers could improve their customer service if they offered more online or self-service tools. Better...
Florida Puts Workers’ Comp Carrier Guarantee Insurance In Receivership
Nov 21 2017 // Florida insurance regulators have placed workers’ compensation carrier Guarantee Insurance Co. in receivership due to inadequate reserves. According to documents from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR),...
Father And Son in California Sentenced in $400K Workers’ Comp Scheme
Nov 20 2017 // Jaime Rosario Del Real, 61, and son Israel Del Real, 37, have both pleaded guilty to four felony counts for their role in a $400,000 insurance fraud scheme denying workers’ compensation insurance and medical care for...
Wisconsin Medical Payments per Workers’ Comp Claim Trending Higher
Nov 20 2017 // A new study by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found that Wisconsin’s medical payments per workers’ compensation claim were higher than typical for 2015 injuries...
Pinnacol in Colorado to Drop Workers’ Comp Rates 7.4% in 2018
Nov 20 2017 // The Pinnacol Assurance board has approved a 2018 decrease in workers’ compensation rates that will average 7.4 percent for the insurer’s 57,000-plus Colorado policyholders. The decrease will become effective...
Key Metrics of New York Workers’ Comp System Tracked in New WCRI Study
Nov 20 2017 // The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) released a tool for policymakers and system stakeholders to track New York workers’ compensation system performance. Originally established to monitor the system...
Louisiana Business, Industry Group Names LUBA Workers’ Comp Company of the Year
Nov 17 2017 // LUBA Workers’ Comp, a regional casualty insurance company, was named Company of the Year in the 100 employees or less category of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry’s 2017 Free Enterprise...
California Companies Ordered to Stop Selling Workers’ Comp Policies
Nov 16 2017 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has issued an order requiring a central valley company and its affiliates to stop selling workers’ compensation and liability policies because it is not properly licensed...
Texas Division of Workers’ Comp: Employees Stepped Up to Help After Hurricane
Nov 15 2017 // When Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area two months ago, Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation employees around the state responded rapidly. DWC increased staffing on the customer...
California Workers’ Comp Division Suspends 12 Medical Providers for Fraud
Nov 15 2017 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has suspended 12 more medical providers from participating in California’s workers’ comp system, bringing the total number of providers suspended this year...
Pharmacy Cost in Workers’ Compensation Continues to Fall: CompPharma Survey
Nov 15 2017 // Workers’ compensation payers saw an average 11 percent reduction in their pharmacy spend in 2016, driven by a 13.3 percent reduction in opioid cost, according to an annual survey by pharmacy benefit manager...
Maine’s The MEMIC Group Hires Bialek to Support New York Market Growth
Nov 14 2017 // The MEMIC Group, a Portland, Maine-headquartered workers’ compensation specialist, has hired Tammy Bialek as senior production underwriter to support growth within the New York market. Bialek has more than 25 years...
Nebraska Bakery Faces $122.6K in Penalties for Multiple Workplace Hazards
Nov 14 2017 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Bimbo Bakeries USA for exposing workers to multiple hazards at its Bellevue, Nebraska, commercial bakery. The company...
Pinnacol in Colorado to Drop Workers’ Comp Rates 7.4% in 2018
Nov 13 2017 // The Pinnacol Assurance board has approved a 2018 decrease in workers’ compensation rates that will average 7.4 percent for the insurer’s 57,000-plus Colorado policyholders. The decrease will become effective...
Houston Grand Jury Indicts 3 in Federal Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme
Nov 13 2017 // A federal grand jury in Houston has returned a, indictment against three people, including two siblings, charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, kickbacks and money laundering connected with an alleged federal...
