Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Carolina Amusement Park Fined $42K by OSHA Over Maintenance Worker Injury
Nov 15 2019 // Federal safety officials have fined an amusement park on the North Carolina-South Carolina line after a maintenance worker was injured last March. The Charlotte Observer reports the Occupational Safety and Health...
California Insurance Commissioner OKs Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Reduction
Nov 14 2019 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has adopted and issued a revised average advisory pure premium rate, lowering the benchmark to $1.52 per $100 of payroll for workers’ compensation insurance, effective...
Drop in California Workers’ Comp Opioid Use Reducing Claims $6.5B, Report Shows
Nov 12 2019 // The prevalence of opioids in California workers’ compensation lost-time claims has dropped 51% over the past decade, reducing both average benefit payments and average days away from work on those claims, according...
Insurtech Pie Launches TV Campaign in California for Workers’ Comp
Nov 12 2019 // Workers’ compensation insurtech Pie Insurance has launched its first national television advertisement campaign with an initial focus in California. The two 30-second spots depict Pie coming to the rescue,...
Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease Approved for Louisiana
Nov 8 2019 // A filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) that would reduce workers’ compensation insurance rates in Louisiana by 8.4% next year has been approved by Louisiana Insurance Commissioner...
Oklahoma Workers’ Comp Commission Names Hammonds Johnson General Counsel
Nov 7 2019 // Lauren Hammonds Johnson has been appointed general counsel at the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC). The general counsel will work directly under Commissioners Mark Liotta, Jordan Russell and Megan...
WCRI: Workers’ Comp Medical Payments in Minnesota Stable
Nov 6 2019 // Minnesota workers’ compensation medical payments per claim remained stable from 2012 to 2017, according to a recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). The study, CompScope Medical Benchmarks...
Philadelphia Fire Highlights Dangers of Old Infrastructure at U.S. Refineries
Nov 6 2019 // How did a piece of piping installed when Richard Nixon was U.S. president go without once being checked before leading to a fire that devastated the East Coast’s largest and oldest oil refinery? That’s a...
Ergonomic Tracking Helps Cut Workers Comp Claims but Privacy Concerns Remain
Nov 6 2019 // Every morning when he goes to work in the freezer room of a warehouse in eastern Pennsylvania, Jack Westley throws on a hooded sweatshirt to keep warm and grabs a radio to talk to his coworkers. He was recently given a new...
Ohio Woman Ordered to Repay $41K After Workers’ Comp Fraud Conviction
Nov 5 2019 // A Cincinnati, Ohio, woman must repay the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) nearly $41,000 after being convicted of workers’ compensation fraud. The BWC reported that Michelle D. Smith, 57, pleaded...
The Lowdown: Cannabis 101 in 300 Minutes or Less
Nov 5 2019 // On October 17th, the Insurance Journal hosted a virtual, 6 hour, live summit on insuring the cannabis industry. With 2,300 pre-registrants, an additional 200 joined in as the day progressed. These viewers represented over...
Alabama Court Gives Go Ahead to Workers Comp Suit Against AIG, Coventry
Nov 4 2019 // An Alabama appellate court has cleared the way for a lawsuit that alleges outrageous and fraudulent conduct by American International Group and Coventry against a worker who was injured in an explosion and sought...
‘Competition & Change’ in Commercial Auto, Workers’ Comp
Nov 4 2019 // Progressive has a competitive edge over long-term players in the commercial auto insurance market and national carriers outpace regionals on workers’ compensation profit measures, according to a new report from Guy...
States Vary Widely in How They Control Workers’ Comp Medical Costs: WCRI
Nov 4 2019 // Workers’ compensation medical costs vary widely among the states both in terms of price and how often services are used. The differences appear to relate closely to which cost-drivers each state legislature tried to...
Regulator Orders Decrease to Proposed Fla. Workers’ Comp Rates
Nov 4 2019 // Florida businesses can expect an even greater decrease in workers’ compensation insurance next year, thanks to an order by the state regulator for a further decrease to the recent rate filing proposed by the National...
Massachusetts Roofing Company Did Not Comply with Safety Settlement
Nov 1 2019 // The U.S. Department of Labor has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to hold The Roof Kings LLC and its owner, Craig Galligan, in civil contempt for not fulfilling the terms of an order issued by the...
Stuczynski Joins SIU’s Workers’ Comp Team in Georgia
Nov 1 2019 // Southern Insurance Underwriters (SIU) has added Patti Stuczynski to its Workers’ Compensation underwriting team. Stuczynksi will be responsible for underwriting new and renewal business while being a vital part of...
Company Fined Nearly $1.6M After 4 Workers Killed in Illinois Plant Explosion
Oct 30 2019 // Federal workplace safety officials have levied $1,591,176 in penalties against a silicon chemical products manufacturer after four employees suffered fatal injuries in an explosion and fire at the company’s Waukegan,...
Study: 94.1% Approval Rate for California Workers’ Comp Treatment Services
Oct 29 2019 // A new study shows that following the adoption of recent changes to streamline the California workers’ compensation medical review and approval process, 94.1% of medical services performed or requested for California...
Former Managers of Ohio Aluminum Plant Sentenced on Obstruction of Justice Charges
Oct 29 2019 // Two former managers of an Ohio aluminum plant have been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice in an investigation into a...
