Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Second Injury Funds: Are They Still Necessary or Just a Drain On the System?
Mar 25 2015 // Second (or subsequent) injury funds (SIFs) have been abolished in 20 states. Alabama and Maine began this movement in 1992, with South Carolina being the most recent convert; each ending its respective program in 2013....
Construction Firm Hit with $79.9K Fine for Excavation Hazards in Houston
Mar 24 2015 // Federal safety officials have fined SER Construction Partners Ltd. $79,900 for three safety violations at a site in Houston, Texas. SER Construction Partners Ltd. based in Pasadena, Texas, specializes in heavy civil...
N.H. Senate Committee Not Backing Workers’ Comp Fee Schedule
Mar 23 2015 // A key policy committee in the New Hampshire Senate is backing a workers’ compensation reform bill that it says will reduce costs by 7.5 percent without imposing a price-fixing mechanism backed by business...
Benefits Provided Under Workers’ Compensation Laws
Mar 23 2015 // Injuries or illnesses established as compensable under applicable workers’ compensation law require prescribed benefits be paid to the injured employee. Benefit limits and duration vary by jurisdiction but each state...
South Carolina Court Rules Stripper Shot at Club Entitled to Workers’ Comp
Mar 23 2015 // An exotic dancer who was shot at a Columbia, S.C., nightclub is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for her injury, according to a ruling by the state’s highest court. The State newspaper reported that...
Conn. Revisits Workers’ Comp for First Responders With PTSD
Mar 23 2015 // Connecticut’s General Assembly is revisiting whether to grant workers’ compensation coverage for certain first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, such as those who responded to the mass...
Tennessee Weighs Workers’ Compensation ‘Option’ Legislation
Mar 23 2015 // Tennessee may soon have its own alternative workers’ compensation insurance through new legislation by Republican lawmakers known as the Tennessee Employee Injury Benefit Alternative. State Sen. Mark Green and Rep....
Top Donors to Iowa Governor Complained About Gay Ex-Workers’ Comp Official
Mar 20 2015 // The founders of a beef company who were major donors to Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s campaign were among the business leaders who raised concerns about a gay state official the governor later tried to force out,...
Workers’ Compensation History: The Great Tradeoff!
Mar 19 2015 // Eighteenth century pirates and a nineteenth century German “Iron” Chancellor preceded the United States in the creation of a social system for the protection of injured workers. The modern workers’...
Union Pacific Ordered to Pay Nebraska-Based Injured Worker $350K
Mar 18 2015 // Federal regulators have ordered Union Pacific to pay $350,000 to a long-time employee who was disciplined after reporting an injury, but the railroad plans to appeal. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational...
Oklahoma Man Pleads Guilty to Workers’ Comp Charges
Mar 18 2015 // A Tulsa County man pleaded guilty to two felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud after charges were brought by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s Workers’ Compensation, Social Security and...
McDonald’s Workers in 19 Cities File OSHA Complaints
Mar 16 2015 // McDonald’s Corp. restaurant workers from 19 U.S. cities complained to regulators on Monday that their working conditions are hazardous and have led to severe burns from hot grills and fryer oil. Workers taking part...
Changes to Kansas Workers’ Comp System Raise Lawsuit Fears
Mar 16 2015 // A change to the state system for paying medical bills and lost wages for injured workers in Kansas has some fearing big lawsuits and others looking forward to cost savings. Starting Jan. 1, the state began rating injuries...
Connecticut Revisits Workers’ Comp for First Responders With PTSD
Mar 16 2015 // The Connecticut General Assembly is revisiting whether to grant workers’ compensation coverage for certain first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, such as those who responded to the mass...
Washington Senate Votes to Lower Work Injury Settlements Age to 40
Mar 12 2015 // The Washington state Senate has passed a bill to lower the age at which an injured worker can settle a claim from 53 to 40. The chamber passed Senate Bill 5513 on a 28-21 vote Tuesday after debate on whether the bill does...
Ohio Measure Would Allow Workers’ Comp for Police PTSD
Mar 11 2015 // Ohio’s emergency responders diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder could be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits even if they don’t have physical injuries under proposed legislation a state...
Missouri Insurance Department Settles with AIG for $1.2M after Market Conduct Exam
Mar 11 2015 // Missouri insurance regulators announced a $1.2 million settlement agreement with nine AIG affiliated insurance companies after a market conduct examination into their handling of workers’ compensation...
More States Eye Use of Drug Formularies in Workers’ Compensation
Mar 10 2015 // While workers’ compensation pharmacy benefit managers have been utilizing drug formularies to control prescription drugs costs and monitor medical treatments for a long time, states are now catching on. Drug...
Louisiana’s LCTA Workers’ Comp Adds D’Angelo to Board
Mar 9 2015 // Louisiana-based workers’ compensation insurer, LCTA Workers’ Comp (LCTA), has added John D’Angelo to its board of trustees. John D’Angelo D’Angelo founded Investar Bank in Baton Rouge, La., in...
Kansas Hotel Owners Hired Illegal Immigrants, Didn’t Pay Taxes, Workers’ Comp
Mar 9 2015 // When a suburban Kansas City couple bought two Clarion hotels, they systematically replaced lawfully employed workers with immigrants not authorized to work in the United States, cutting labor costs by 40 percent. Not only...
