Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Kansas Workers’ Comp Bill Increases Some Benefits, Streamlines Processes
Jun 3 2024 // Kansas Governor Laura Kelly last week signed Senate Bill 430, bipartisan legislation making comprehensive reforms to the state’s workers compensation system. The bill, a result of collaboration between business and...
Report: Cost of Prescriptions in Workers’ Comp on The Rise
Jun 3 2024 // While overall utilization is trending downward, cost of prescriptions in workers’ compensation is on the rise, driven by “high-dollar topical agents” that primarily come from out-of-network channels, as...
US Workers’ Comp Line Still Showing Strong Profits, Lower Claim Frequency
Jun 3 2024 // Net written premium in the U.S. workers’ compensation insurance market grew by just 1% from 2022 to 2023, a far smaller percentage than most other property/casualty lines. However, the workers’ compensation...
California Trucker Death Led to Workers’ Comp Investigation That Found $2M in Underreported Payroll
Jun 3 2024 // An investigation that began after an employee was found dead in a company owned semi-truck led to the arraignment of a California man on three felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud. Heigo Kubar, 84, of Fresno,...
Roofing Contractor to Contest OSHA Citations After Employee’s Fatal Fall
May 27 2024 // The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has determined that a Massachusetts roofing contractor again violated federal regulations for fall protections, following an investigation into how an employee fell...
Dean Denied Workers’ Compensation for Injury From ‘Walking and Turning’ in Hallway
May 22 2024 // A community college dean who was injured when she fell after she turned in a hallway to address a colleague is not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, the Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled. Mary Pat...
Cal/OSHA Beefing Up Safety Enforcement to Protect Workers Against Silicosis
May 21 2024 // California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health reports seeing growing number of silicosis cases among stone workers in California, and the agency is launching efforts to beef up its enforcement...
Workers’ Compensation Bars Doctor Who Was Shot at New York Hospital From Suing
May 20 2024 // New York’s highest court has ruled that a doctor who was injured in a shooting at the hospital where he works cannot sue his employer, finding that his injuries arose out of his employment and are thus covered by...
California Trucker Death Led to Workers’ Comp Investigation That Found $2M in Underreported Payroll
May 17 2024 // An investigation began after an employee was found dead in a company owned semi-truck led to the arraignment of a California man on three felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud. Heigo Kubar, 84, of Fresno, was...
Maine OKs 15.7% Rate Cut for Its Biggest Workers’ Compensation Insurer, MEMIC
May 16 2024 // The Maine Bureau of Insurance has approved a 15.7% average rate reduction in workers’ compensation insurance premiums for Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Co. (MEMIC), the largest workers’ compensation...
US Workers’ Comp Line Still Showing Strong Profits, Lower Claim Frequency
May 15 2024 // Net written premium in the U.S. workers’ compensation insurance market grew by just 1% from 2022 to 2023, a far smaller percentage than most other property/casualty lines. However, the workers’ compensation...
Tech Update: WTW, Riskonnect Launch Risk Diagnostic Tool for Workers’ Comp
May 13 2024 // Insurance broker WTW has formed a partnership with Riskonnect to pilot an analytical delivery tool that connects claims and exposure data through its new offering WTW Risk IQ API (application programming interface). The...
OSHA Cites Boston Employer in Window Washer’s Fatal 29-Story Fall
May 10 2024 // Federal workplace safety investigators are alleging that an East Boston window cleaning company’s failure to inspect and replace damaged or defective equipment contributed to an employee’s fatal 29-story fall...
Report: California Workers’ Comp Written Premium Increased 2% in 2023
May 9 2024 // Written premium in calendar year 2023 was 2% higher than the prior year, driven by continued economic expansion, but partially offset by continued rate decreases, a new report shows. The Workers’ Compensation...
Florida Saw Jump in Workers’ Comp Cost per Claim in 2022-23, WCRI Report Shows
May 6 2024 // Call it the effects of wage creep during the pandemic, along with a little bit of creep in the duration of benefits. Employers and insurers in Florida saw a 7% increase in total cost per workers’ compensation claim...
New California Law Expands Work Comp Role in Curbing Workplace Violence
May 6 2024 // New legislation aimed at reducing workplace violence in California vastly increases employers’ responsibilities and hands workers’ compensation insurers an unprecedented oversight role that is likely to trigger...
NCCI’s Chief Actuary Discusses Workers’ Comp Profits, Safety and Future
May 6 2024 // The workers’ compensation system overall is healthy and strong. The sector has seen long-term frequency declines for multiple decades with moderate severity of claims costs for at least the past decade. That’s...
Pennsylvania High Court to Decide If Workers’ Compensation Covers CBD Oil
May 3 2024 // A veteran Pennsylvania workers’ compensation attorney will soon have a chance to argue before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that his own use of cannabinoid oil (CBD oil) is covered by workers’...
California Business Owner Ordered to Pay $687K in Restitution for Workers’ Comp Fraud
May 3 2024 // A California business owner convicted of felony workers’ compensation insurance fraud was ordered to pay $687,560 in restitution to the victims. An investigation by the California Department of Insurance determined...
Newark Wants Cargo Ship Firefighters’ Deaths Handled Under Workers’ Compensation
May 2 2024 // The city of Newark is asking a federal court to dismiss negligence and wrongful death claims against it by the families of two firefighters who died last July while battling a fire on a cargo ship, The city maintains that...
