Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Study Keys on Opioids in California Comp Claims Involving Mental Health
Aug 29 2017 // A new study shows the prevalence of opioids in workers’ compensation claims involving mental health. The study by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute tracks changes in the prevalence, volume and...
California DOI Hearing Date Set for Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Rate Filing
Aug 29 2017 // The California Department of Insurance announced that it will hold a public hearing on Oct. 5 to consider the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s Jan. 1, 2018 pure premium rate filing. The filing...
Zalewski Named Chair of California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board
Aug 29 2017 // California Gov. Jerry Brown has named Katherine Zalewski chair on the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. Zalewski served on the board since her appointment by Brown in 2014. Prior to her appointment, she...
Illinois Governor Vetoes 2nd Workers’ Comp Bill
Aug 29 2017 // Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed another workers’ compensation reform bill that was strongly opposed by the insurance industry. He has nixed HB2525, which would have required pre-approval of workers’ comp...
NCCI Files 10% Reduction in Workers’ Comp Loss Costs for West Virginia
Aug 29 2017 // West Virginia employers will see a projected $21 million reduction in workers’ compensation premiums in the coming year, according to a recent statement from Gov. Jim Justice. The National Council on Compensation...
Georgia Insurance Agent Arrested for Misappropriating Workers’ Comp Premiums
Aug 25 2017 // An insurance agent in Floyd County, Ga., has been arrested on fraud charges related to the misappropriation of insurance premiums, according to the Georgia Department of Insurance. Marshall Irwin, 56, owner and operator of...
California Workers’ Comp Medical Payments Per Claim Fell in 2016, Report Shows
Aug 24 2017 // Medical payments per claim in California’s worker’s compensation system dropped 9 percent in 2016 from two years prior, according to a report issued by the the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating...
Judge Approves $1M Loan so Alaska Newspaper Can Pay Workers’ Comp, Employees
Aug 24 2017 // A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a $1 million loan for the Alaska Dispatch News to keep it operating as negotiations continue with potential buyers. The newspaper will use the loan from potential buyers approved...
California Hospital Workers’ Comp Survey Shows Moderating Losses, Higher Adjustment Expenses
Aug 24 2017 // A survey from 18 hospital systems and more than 44 individual facilities within California shows average losses paid per indemnity claim rose 2.9 percent annually over the past 10 years. Keenan HealthCare and actuarial...
Massachusetts’ Boston Insurance Brokerage Promotes Two
Aug 24 2017 // Boston Insurance Brokerage (BIB), a Boston, Mass.-based national wholesale brokerage offering commercial insurance solutions, has promoted John Roderiques to associate vice president of its workers’ compensation...
Illinois Governor Vetoes 1 of 2 Workers’ Comp Bills Opposed by Insurers
Aug 23 2017 // Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed a workers’ compensation reform bill that has been strongly opposed by the insurance industry. Rauner on Aug. 18 vetoed HB 2622, which would have created the Illinois Employers...
Oklahoma Workers’ Comp Report Shows Big Drop in Premium Costs Since 2013
Aug 22 2017 // Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system seems to have benefited from reforms that were initiated in 2013, at least in terms of premium costs for businesses. By the end of 2016, employers in Oklahoma had seen a...
Beacon Mutual’s New CEO Spero: ‘We’re Within an Hour of Every Policyholder’
Aug 21 2017 // The board of directors of Beacon Mutual Insurance Company, a Warwick, R.I.-based workers’ compensation carrier, has elected Brian Spero as president and CEO of the company, effective in July. Beacon’s board...
21 States See Drop in Longer-Term Opioid-Related Workers’ Comp Claims: WCRI
Aug 21 2017 // As states institute opioid policies to address the opioid epidemic, a new study has found considerable decreases in the prevalence of longer-term dispensing of opioids to injured workers in a number of states studied. The...
101 Sales, Marketing & Agency Management Ideas
Aug 21 2017 // 1. Dare to Break the Mold. We tend to hit a sweet spot of what works for us in agency management and stay there, focusing on the “sexier” sales side of the business. It’s fine to keep what works, but...
Increase in California Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Sent to Department of Insurance
Aug 18 2017 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has submitted its Jan. 1, 2018 pure premium rate filing to the California Department of Insurance proposing advisory pure premium rates that average $2.01 per $100 of...
Liotta Named Chairman of Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission
Aug 18 2017 // Gov. Mary Fallin has named Mark Liotta as chairman of the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission. Liotta, a former state representative from Tulsa, succeeds Robert Gilliland, whose term on the commission expires...
Judge Sends Suit for California Man’s Helicopter Crash Death to Workers’ Comp
Aug 18 2017 // A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died in an ambulance helicopter crash has been thrown out by a judge who said the case must go through California’s workers’ compensation death benefits...
Report: Written Premiums for California Comp Insurers to be Flat Through 2017
Aug 17 2017 // Written premiums from workers’ compensation insurers in California for the year are expected to be flat at $18.1 billion compared with 2016 thanks largely to rate decreases, according to analysts with the...
New York Bus Firms Seek Damages Over Handling of Workers’ Comp Claim
Aug 17 2017 // New York Bus Operators Compensation Trust (NYBOCT), a Bay Shore, N.Y.-based group self-insured trust created by a number of New York passenger bus companies, has filed a complaint against Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.,...
