Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurers Question California Commissioner’s Authority to Make Comp Writers Report Federal Tax Savings
Jul 2 2018 // The insurance industry is wondering whether a new requirement from California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones that workers’ compensation insurers report federal income tax savings is legal. Jones wants insurers...
California Commissioner Orders Workers’ Comp Insurers to Report Federal Income Tax Savings
Jul 2 2018 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced today issued an order that every insurer licensed to write workers’ compensation in the state must report their federal income tax savings annually through a...
SUNZ Forms Florida-Based Workers’ Comp Subrogation Services Company
Jul 2 2018 // SUNZ Holdings, LLC, a provider of large deductible workers’ compensation insurance products, has formed Avalon Subrogation Partners, LLC, a subrogation company focused on recovering claim payments from parties who...
NYC Drivers for Uber, Other Apps to Get Vision Care Coverage
Jul 2 2018 // Drivers for car services and ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft are usually on their own when it comes to buying health insurance, but starting Sunday in New York they will now be able to get coverage for vision care as...
People
Jul 2 2018 // Cassie Brown has been appointed Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation at the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation. She succeeds Ryan Brannan, who left the division on May 1....
Texas DWC: 40% of Workers’ Comp Claimants Have Previous Injuries
Jul 2 2018 // There are about 200,000 new claims each year in the Texas workers’ compensation system, representing about 2 percent of covered Texas employees. About 40 percent of those new claims involve claimants who have had at...
North Texas Attorney Charged with $400K Insurance Fraud
Jul 2 2018 // A Travis County grand jury has indicted a Texas attorney on charges of workers’ compensation fraud for allegedly billing clients for services that were not provided, false billing and tampering with a government...
West Virginia Supreme Court: Widow Entitled to Husband’s Workers’ Comp
Jul 2 2018 // The West Virginia Supreme Court says a Rhode Island woman whose husband died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a hotel is entitled to West Virginia workers’ compensation benefits. The state Workers’ Compensation...
Maine Employers Are Not Required to Reimburse Employees for Medical Marijuana Use
Jul 2 2018 // The Maine Supreme Court has ruled that employers in the state are not required to reimburse employees for their use of medical marijuana under the Maine workers’ compensation system because federal law preempts state...
Declarations
Jul 2 2018 // Medical Marijuana “Prosecuted or not, the fact remains that Twin Rivers would be forced to commit a federal crime if it complied with the directive of the Workers’ Compensation Board.” — Maine...
Beverly Hills Doctor Sentenced to 10 Years in Workers’ Comp Scam
Jul 2 2018 // A Beverly Hills, Calif., doctor has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a massive fraud scheme. Dr. Ronald Grusd was convicted in December of 39 charges, including conspiracy, honest services wire...
Report: California Self-Insured Workers’ Comp Claims Rose Only Slightly Last Year
Jul 2 2018 // California public self-insured workers’ compensation claims from fiscal year 2016-2017 rose less than 0.4 percent compared to the corresponding data from the prior year despite a 2.9 percent increase in covered...
California Workers’ Comp Rating Bureau Exploring Blockchain, Behavioral Science
Jul 2 2018 // One wouldn’t normally associate blockchain with workers’ compensation, two completely different industries that seem worlds apart. But as it turns out, the technology is of value to at least one very important...
Nevada-based Insurtech Talage Offering Workers’ Comp, Liability, Property Online
Jun 29 2018 // Talage Inc. is an insurtech to its core – both in function and name. The Reno, Nev.-based software platform designed to help small business owners compare and quickly purchase a range of commercial insurance policies...
How Workers’ Compensation Outpatient Costs Compare Across States by Fee Regulation
Jun 29 2018 // Hospital outpatient payments were higher and growing faster in states with percent-of-charge-based fee regulations or no fee schedules, finds a study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) that compares 35...
California Workers’ Comp Division Says Temporary Total Disability Rates to Increase for 2019
Jun 26 2018 // The 2019 minimum and maximum temporary total disability rates will increase on Jan. 1, 2019, the California Division of Workers’ Compensation announced on Tuesday. The minimum TTD rate will increase from $182.29 to...
Ohio Excavating Company Fined $202K Following Fatal Trench Collapse
Jun 26 2018 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited JK Excavating & Utilities Inc. after an employee suffered fatal injuries in a trench collapse in Ohio. OSHA has proposed...
Energy Company Cited for 25 Safety Violations After Fatality at N.H. Plant
Jun 25 2018 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited EWP Renewable Corp., doing business as Springfield Power LLC, for 25 safety violations after an employee suffered fatal...
Florida Man Sentenced to Five Years’ Probation for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Jun 25 2018 // A Trinity, Fla., man has been sentenced to five years’ probation, with the first six months to be served on home detention, for making a false statement in connection with his workers’ compensation benefits. As...
Here’s a Shocker: Insurance Industry Reserves Still Adequate
Jun 25 2018 // Although analysts at Conning didn’t actually use the word “shocked” in their latest report on the property/casualty industry’s loss reserve position, the title of the report—and the image on the...
