Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Louisiana Contractor Fined More than $152K for Federal Safety Violations
Nov 23 2016 // A construction contractor in Louisiana has been cited and fined over what federal safety officials say are hazardous workplace conditions. Proposed penalties total $152,147. Don M. Barron Contractor Inc. in Baton Rouge was...
Dollar General Again Charged with Safety Violations in Ohio
Nov 22 2016 // Federal safety inspectors say they have once again found one of the nation’s largest discount retailers putting workers and customers alike in danger by allowing emergency exit routes to be blocked. U.S. Department...
Pinnacol in Colorado to Drop Workers’ Comp Rates in 2017
Nov 21 2016 // Pinnacol Assurance’s board of directors has approved a 2017 decrease in workers’ compensation rates that will average 3.2 percent for the insurer’s Colorado policyholders. The decrease surpasses the...
Safety Violations at Ohio Glass Facility Rack Up $227K in Fines
Nov 21 2016 // Workers began making multiple complaints of unsafe working conditions at the Fuyao Glass America Inc. facility in Moraine, Ohio, not long after it opened in October 2015, leading to eight separate federal inspections and...
Will Legal Weed in California Increase Demand for It from Injured Workers?
Nov 21 2016 // Just how legalized weed in California will impact workers’ compensation is still uncertain, but what is certain is that the insurance industry can soon expect to be grappling with issues around paying for marijuana...
2 Former Postal Employees Convicted in Dallas for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Nov 17 2016 // Two former U.S. Postal Service employees have been convicted on felony charges related to a workers’ compensation fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas announced. McArthur Baker,...
DIR: California Independent Medical Review Shows Improvements
Nov 16 2016 // A California Department of Industrial Relations progress report shows continuing improvement of the state’s Independent Medical Review process. IMR is the medical dispute resolution process that uses medical...
Texas Workers’ Comp Division: State’s Rates Among Nation’s Lowest
Nov 15 2016 // Texas has some of the nation’s most affordable workers’ compensation coverage, according to a 2016 study, which found that the Lone Star State had the 10th lowest rates among all states, the Texas Division of...
Affordable Care Act Does Not Crowd Out Workers’ Compensation Claimants: NCCI Research
Nov 15 2016 // New industry research has found that while the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has dramatically increased the number of people who are medically insured, it has not hurt access to medical care for...
Nebraska Grain Facility Fined Nearly $527K over Worker’s Death
Nov 15 2016 // Federal safety regulators have proposed nearly $527,000 in penalties against the operators of a northeast Nebraska grain facility where a worker was fatally injured. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said...
Will Legal Weed in California Increase Demand for It from Injured Workers?
Nov 10 2016 // Just how legalized weed in California will impact workers’ compensation is still uncertain, but what is certain is that the insurance industry can soon expect to be grappling with issues around paying for marijuana...
U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Review Challenge to Florida Workers’ Comp System
Nov 10 2016 // The United States Supreme Court has refused to review a Florida case challenging the state’s entire workers’ compensation system, which could be seen as the state’s only reprieve on workers’ comp...
Arkansas Company Fined Nearly $125K for Repeat Workplace Hazards
Nov 9 2016 // Federal safety officials have cited Bekaert Corp. in Van Buren, Arkansas, after an employee suffered an amputation while trying to untangle moving wire at an Arkansas facility that manipulates and coats steel products. An...
Medical Care Readily Accessible for Injured Employees in Texas, Study Shows
Nov 9 2016 // Access to medical care for injured workers has greatly improved in Texas over the past 15 years, a study commissioned by the Texas Department of Insurance shows. A September 2016 study by TDI’s Research and...
Study: Los Angeles Has Highest Workers’ Comp Claim Costs in California
Nov 7 2016 // The Los Angeles area continues to be a drag on California’s overall workers’ compensation costs, according to a study out in late October from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. The...
California Commissioner Wants Workers’ Comp Insurers to Reduce Rates
Nov 7 2016 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones issued a formal finding that costs to insurers in the workers’ compensation system are declining and he’s asking workers’ comp insurers to pass those cost...
New Mexico Workers’ Comp Costs May Drop in 2017
Nov 7 2016 // New Mexico employers could see a decrease in their insurance costs for on-the-job injuries and deaths. The state Office of Superintendent of Insurance says a key factor in calculating individual employers’...
Berkshire’s Workers’ Compensation Product Carries Risks of Innovation
Nov 4 2016 // David Miller is a stickler for safety at the Goodwill stores he runs in central California. So when Applied Underwriters offered his nonprofit a deal on insurance for workplace accidents if he could minimize injuries, he...
Court Rules in Favor of Massachusetts Insurers Insolvency Fund in Workers’ Comp Suit
Nov 4 2016 // The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in Boston, Mass., has ruled that the Massachusetts Insurers Insolvency Fund is authorized to recover certain amounts paid by the fund in workers’ compensation benefits on...
Florida Police Union Says Officers With Zika Entitled to Workers’ Comp
Nov 4 2016 // Police union officials want Florida lawmakers to extend workers’ compensation to first responders with Zika. Florida Fraternal Order of Police President Bobby Jenkins said Tuesday that emergency responders should be...
