workers’ compensation News

NC High Court Strikes Down Compensability of Weight-Loss Surgery, Adopts Strict Test

The North Carolina Supreme Court has undone rulings by an appeals court and the state’s Industrial Commission that had granted workers’ compensation insurance payments for a woman’s weight-loss surgery. And in doing that, the high court formally adopted a multi-factor …

Maine Approves 19% Drop in Workers’ Compensation Costs Starting in April

Newly-installed Maine Insurance Superintendent Robert Carey announced approval of an average workers’ compensation insurance loss cost decrease of 19%. The new loss costs go into effect for new and renewing policies as of April 1, 2024. Carey said that if …

Coming and Going, Extended Premises Rules Don’t Help Employee Injured on Crosswalk

An employee of a diagnostics firm in Virginia who was injured when she fell on a crosswalk on her way to work is not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (VWCC) has upheld a deputy commissioner’s …

Alabama Sales Rep and Clinic Owner Sentenced in $28M Billing Fraud Scheme

A medical sales representative and a pain clinic owner in Alabama have been sentenced to years in prison for their roles in a long-running, $28 million fraud scheme that involved a compounding pharmacy, unneeded nerve tests and a former workers’ …

Pinnacol in Colorado Issues $15M Dividend to Businesses

Pinnacol Assurance issued $15 million general dividend to businesses throughout Colorado. This is the ninth straight year Pinacol has issued dividends to customers. Pinnacol Assurance operates similarly to a mutual insurer, treating customers as its owners, which makes them eligible …

North Carolina Labor Chief Rejects Infectious Disease Rules for Workplaces

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s elected labor commissioner has declined to adopt rules sought by worker and civil rights groups that would have set safety and masking directives in workplaces for future infectious disease outbreaks like with COVID-19. Commissioner …

Dollar Tree Down Most Since May on Plan to Shut 1,000 Stores

Dollar Tree Inc. plans to shutter about 1,000 stores in an effort to improve profitability as the discount retailer battles a spate of litigation and other headwinds. The company expects to close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first …

Massachusetts Couple Charged With $627K in Workers’ Compensation Fraud and More

A Hopkinton, Massachusetts couple has been arrested and charged in connection with separate schemes to defraud their workers’ compensation insurance carriers, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and their mortgage lender. According to the U.S. Attorney, Ronaldo Solano and Adriana Solano …

Moonlighting Cop Not Independent Contractor? NC Supreme Court Says Hold on

The North Carolina Supreme Court has temporarily put the brakes on an appeals court decision that had upset years of workers’ compensation case law on when a moonlighting law officer is considered an independent contractor. In the case of Stephen …

Kentucky House Passes Bill to Reduce Medically Trained Workers in Smaller Mines

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky House voted Monday to allow the state’s smallest coal mining operations to reduce the number of miners with emergency medical training assigned for each underground shift. In a state once known as a coal …