Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Workers’ Comp Bureau Releases Cost Monitoring Update on Reforms
Oct 11 2019 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California this week issued a prospective estimate of the cost impact of Senate Bill 863, the sweeping workers’ comp reform bill signed into law in 2012. SB...
Ohio Foundry Facing $270K in Penalties for Serious Workplace Health Violations
Oct 10 2019 // Federal officials have cited an Ohio foundry with three repeated and 18 serious health violations for exposing employees to crystalline silica above the permissible exposure levels. As a result, Liberty Casting Company in...
Massachusetts Cleaning Company Owner Sentenced for $74K Insurance Fraud
Oct 10 2019 // The owner of a Malden, Mass.-based cleaning company pleaded guilty and was sentenced to jail in connection with an insurance fraud scheme that involved worker misclassification, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey...
Missouri Food Flavoring Manufacturer Faces $223.5K in Penalties Over Worker Fatality
Oct 9 2019 // A Missouri-based food flavoring manufacturer is facing $223,525 in penalties after being cited by federal officials for workplace safety violations following the death of a worker at the company’s facility. The U.S....
Texas Man Convicted of $6K Workers’ Compensation Fraud
Oct 9 2019 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported that a Travis County district court has sentenced Joe D. Lozano, Sr. of Midland, Texas, on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Lozano reported a job-related injury while...
Salus Workers’ Compensation Acquires Omaha’s Method Insurance Services
Oct 8 2019 // Salus Workers’ Compensation LLC (Salus), a managing general agent (MGA) and third-party administrator (TPA), has completed its acquisition of Method LLC d/b/a Method Insurance Services (Method), a full-service...
Louisiana Workers’ Comp Corp. to Return $136M to Policyholders in October
Oct 8 2019 // Louisiana’s largest workers’ compensation insurance carrier, Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation (LWCC), is issuing $136 million in dividend checks to policyholders during October. LWCC is a single...
Workers’ Compensation Rates to Decrease in Idaho for 2020
Oct 7 2019 // The Idaho Department of Insurance has approved a proposal for a 6.2 percent overall rate decrease to Idaho workers’ compensation insurance effective Jan. 1, 2020. The proposed rate change was recommended by the...
Origami Risk Taps Bennett, Bentley to Lead New Operating Units in Chicago
Oct 7 2019 // Chicago-based Origami Risk, a risk and insurance Software as a Service (SaaS) technology firm, has formed two new operating divisions – Risk Solutions and Core Solutions – and appointed Earne Bentley and Christopher...
Workers’ Compensation Premiums Up 2.2% in First Half of 2019
Oct 7 2019 // In the aggregate, workers’ compensation insurers reported a modest increase in direct written premiums in the U.S. for the first six months of 2019 versus the same period 2018, up 2.2%. However, the 25 carriers with...
Study Examines California Workers’ Comp Hospital Inpatient Stays
Sep 30 2019 // The number of California workers’ compensation inpatient hospital stays fell 1.9 percent between 2017 and 2018, for a net decline of nearly 31 percent since 2010, a new study shows. A study from the California...
Maine’s The MEMIC Group Appoints Roberts as Senior Production Underwriter
Sep 27 2019 // Benjamin Roberts has been appointed as a senior production underwriter by workers’ compensation specialist The MEMIC Group to support continued growth in the Vermont market. Roberts, a native of Vermont, previously...
ClearPath Mutual Hires Sellers as Production Underwriter in Tennessee
Sep 26 2019 // ClearPath Mutual Insurance Co. has appointed Kim Sellers as the company’s first production underwriter. Sellers will be based out of Burns, Tenn., and will handle agents in Kentucky and Tennessee. Kim Sellers As...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Bureau: 8 Fraud-Related Convictions Secured in August
Sep 26 2019 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) reported it secured eight fraud-related convictions in August, bringing 2019’s total to 63. BWC assisted in the investigation that led to the Aug. 30 sentencing of...
Found Guilty of Fraud, Former Deputy Sheriff Owes Ohio BWC $235K
Sep 25 2019 // A Zanesville, Ohio, man and former county deputy sheriff must reimburse the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) nearly $235,000 in restitution after being convicted on Sept. 23 on workers’ compensation...
Workers’ Comp Loss Costs to Drop 5% in Oklahoma Next Year
Sep 24 2019 // A 5.1% percent decrease in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs in Oklahoma for 2020 has been approved by Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready, the state insurance department announced. Loss costs are the...
Nichols Exiting Role as Workers’ Comp Manager at Insurance Council of Texas
Sep 23 2019 // Steve Nichols, manager of Workers’ Compensation Services at the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT), is moving on to pursue other opportunities, the insurance trade organization reports. Nichols has been with ICT for 19...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Bureau Plans $1.5B in Employer Dividends
Sep 23 2019 // Ohio’s insurance fund for injured workers tells employers to watch their mailboxes as it prepares to send out dividend checks totaling around $1.5 billion. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation says strong...
Massachusetts Man Indicted in Connection with $110K Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme
Sep 20 2019 // A Worcester, Mass., man who operated a temporary employment agency was indicted in connection with a scheme to evade more than $110,000 in workers’ compensation premiums, according to a press release issued by...
Drop in Workers’ Comp Rates in Washington Proposed for 3rd Straight Year
Sep 18 2019 // The price of workers’ compensation insurance in Washington would drop for the third year in a row under a proposal by the Washington Department of Labor & Industries. The L&I on Wednesday proposed a 0.8%...
