Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Workers’ Comp Independent Medical Review Volume Fell in First Half of 2022
Oct 3 2022 // After hitting a record low in 2021, the number of independent medical reviews used to resolve California workers’ comp medical disputes continued to decline in the first half of 2022 according to the California...
California Workers’ Comp Written Premium up 27% in First Half of 2022
Sep 30 2022 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California released its Quarterly Experience Report, which reflects an increase in written premium due to economic recovery from the pandemic. The report is an...
California Doctor Prescribing Unneeded Drugs Guilty of Insurance Fraud
Sep 30 2022 // A physician pleaded guilty to defrauding California’s Medi-Cal system by prescribing unnecessary drugs to more than 1,000 patients, prosecutors said. Dr. Mohammed El-Nachef entered pleas in Orange County to one count...
California Governor Approves Farmworker Unionization Law
Sep 30 2022 // A broadly smiling California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined about two dozen jubilant, cheering farmworkers camped outside the state Capitol this week to sign one of the most contentious bills before him this year, reversing...
178 Medical Providers Suspended from California’s Workers’ Comp System
Sep 30 2022 // The California Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Workers’ Compensation and DIR’s Anti-Fraud Unit suspended 178 medical providers during the first eight months of 2022. Providers are...
California Cites Home Health Agencies $2M for Misclassifying 66 Workers
Sep 29 2022 // The California Labor Commissioner’s Office cited Angel Connection Nursing Care and Angel Connection Nursing Services for improperly misclassifying 66 home health care workers as independent contractors. Investigators...
California to Allow Lawsuits Against ‘Cyber Flashers’
Sep 29 2022 // Californians who find themselves victims of “cyber flashing” can sue under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law aims to punish and deter those who send unsolicited sexually explicit messages via text,...
Employees Sickened by Substance at California Plastics Recycler
Sep 28 2022 // Authorities say nine people were taken to the hospital this week after being exposed to a caustic substance at a California plastics recycling company. Seven workers had breathing problems or other symptoms while two...
Alliance 360˚ Acquires M.I. Insurance Solutions in California
Sep 28 2022 // Alliance 360˚ Insurance Solutions acquired M.I. Insurance Solutions, located in Cypress, California. M.I. Insurance Solutions was founded in 2005 as a joint venture between The J. Morey Company and Miyuki Inouye to...
Insurers Warn California’s Inaction Threatens Auto Policies
Sep 27 2022 // Top U.S. insurance companies and associations say California is risking a crisis in the nation’s largest automobile insurance market by refusing to approve any rate increases for more than two years, since the start...
US Starts Criminal Probe Into PG&E Role in California Wildfire
Sep 27 2022 // Federal officials have initiated a criminal investigation into PG&E Corp.’s potential role in starting California’s largest wildfire of the year. On Sept. 24, the US Forest Service removed one of the...
California County Paying Pay $1.35M in Custody Death Suit
Sep 27 2022 // San Diego County and other defendants have agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the mother of a Mexican citizen who died after sheriff’s deputies arrested him in 2018, officials said. The lawsuit...
California Commissioner Orders Another Moratorium on Insurance Cancellations
Sep 26 2022 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Monday ordered insurers to preserve residential insurance coverage following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest emergency declarations. The commissioner’s order shields...
Judge OKs $230M Settlement in California Oil Spill Case
Sep 26 2022 // A judge has approved a $230 million lawsuit settlement by the owners of a pipeline that spilled more than 140,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean off California in 2015, lawyers announced. A federal judge in Los...
People Moves: Pinnacol adds Parham; Lockton Adds 2 in Northern California
Sep 26 2022 // Pinnacol Assurance in Denver, Colorado, named Wes Parham vice president of public affairs. Parham will have responsibility for legislative strategy, lobbying efforts, community relations and external advocacy. Parham is an...
Privacy Watchdog Suit Says California Utility Targeted Asians in Pot Searches
Sep 26 2022 // Extraordinary use of electricity has long been a telltale sign of illegal grow houses producing thousands of marijuana plants hidden in seemingly ordinary homes. But a lawsuit filed by a data privacy watchdog says a...
How Do You Solve a Problem Like California?
Sep 23 2022 // California has a wildfire crisis. Arguably, the entire Western United States has a wildfire crisis, but California’s crisis is of an entirely different magnitude. California also has a homeowners insurance crisis....
New Report on California Workers’ Comp Medical Payment Trends
Sep 22 2022 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California released an updated California Workers’ Compensation Aggregate Medical Payment Trends report for 2021. The latest annual report compares medical...
California Commissioner Orders Another Insurance Cancellation Moratorium for Wildfire
Sep 22 2022 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Thursday ordered insurance companies to preserve residential insurance coverage following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest wildfire emergency declarations. Lara’s...
People Moves: Venbrook in California Names Pippin Chief Claims Officer; Makes Numerous Leadership Moves
Sep 22 2022 // Venbrook Group LLC named Louis Pippin as chief claims officer of Venbrook Claims Services. Pippin has nearly 30 years of experience in the areas of multi-line property/casualty liability lines, case management, cost...
