Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
3 Reasons Congress Should Renew TRIA
Sep 3 2014 // U.S. insurance markets, like the rest of the nation, were caught off guard by the Sept.11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Loss of life and property led to an estimated $32.5 billion dollars in insured losses – $43 billion in...
Report: 1-in-6 Construction Workers in California Part of ‘Informal Economy’
Sep 2 2014 // A report by the nonprofit research group Economic Roundtable released over the Labor Day holiday found that one-in-six construction workers in California fell into the state’s “informal economy,” an...
Oklahoma Widow Awarded $503K in Contested Workers’ Comp Case
Sep 2 2014 // The widow and son of a Bartlesville, Okla., man who died during firefighting training have been awarded more than $503,000 in federal and state death benefits despite testimony that said the man was never with a fire...
South Carolina Employee Scores Workers’ Compensation Win for Kickball Injury
Aug 29 2014 // The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled this week that an employee injured during a company kickball game is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The court found that Stephen Whigham’s kickball injury was...
Kentucky Workers’ Comp Loss Costs to Decrease Overall for 9th Straight Year
Aug 27 2014 // In Kentucky, workers’ compensation loss costs used by insurers in figuring rates to charge employers will show an overall decrease for the ninth straight year. Kentucky Insurance Commissioner Sharon P. Clark...
NCCI Proposes Average Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease of 2.5% in Florida
Aug 26 2014 // Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation announced it received the 2015 Florida workers’ compensation rate filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which proposes a statewide average...
Delaware Workers’ Compensation Oversight Panel Begins Work
Aug 26 2014 // A Delaware panel established to oversee efforts to keep the state’s workers compensation rates affordable is getting down to work. Delaware’s Workers Compensation Oversight Panel is charged with creating a new...
Employment Growth Leads to Workers’ Comp Benefit, Cost Uptick
Aug 26 2014 // Workers’ compensation benefits rose by 1.3 percent to $61.9 billion in 2012, while employer costs rose by 6.9 percent to $83.2 billion, according to a report released today by the National Academy of Social Insurance...
Commentary: Hopeful Outlook for Workers’ Comp
Aug 25 2014 // As we pass the halfway point of 2014, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is relatively optimistic about the outlook for the workers’ compensation market in America. Industry costs remain largely...
R.I. Lowers Assessment Rate for Workers’ Comp Insurers to 6.65%
Aug 25 2014 // The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT) announced last week that it has cut the administrative assessment rate charged to insurance companies providing workers’ comp coverage in Rhode Island. For...
Massachusetts State Auditor Reviews Workers’ Comp System
Aug 25 2014 // A new Massachusetts state audit has made recommendations to improve accountability and efficiency in the workers’ compensation system. Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump said on August 21 that her...
Medical Director at North Dakota’s Workers’ Comp Agency Resigns
Aug 21 2014 // The medical director at North Dakota’s workers’ compensation agency has resigned. KXMB-TV reports that Luis Vilella stepped down on Aug. 15 after eight years with Workforce Safety and Insurance. Vilella has...
Early Use of MRI for Lower Back Pain Found Unnecessary, Costly
Aug 20 2014 // Early use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to diagnose work-related lower back pain often leads to higher medical costs, unnecessary medical procedures and prolonged disability, according to new medical research. Claims...
Workplace Penalties Mounting Up for Illinois Roofing Contractor
Aug 20 2014 // Roofing contractor Juan Manuel Antonio-Martinez has been cited for three willful safety violations for exposing workers to fall hazards at two separate residential home sites in Savoy, Ill., on March 26, 2014, and April 9,...
Appeal Expected Over Ruling Overturning Florida Workers’ Comp System
Aug 19 2014 // A Florida circuit court judge has ruled that the state’s workers’ compensation law is unconstitutional because it no longer provides adequate benefits to injured workers giving up their right to sue. Florida...
NCCI Proposes Workers’ Comp Loss Costs Decrease in N.H.
Aug 18 2014 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) recently delivered a workers’ compensation loss cost filing to the New Hampshire Insurance Department. NCCI said that based upon its review of the most recently...
Ex-Oklahoma Assistant AG in Work Comp Case Files Wrongful Termination Claim
Aug 18 2014 // A former Oklahoma assistant attorney general has filed a wrongful termination claim against the state. Ted Rossier filed the $175,000 claim with the State Office of Risk Management, The Oklahoman reported. He is seeking a...
Hopeful Outlook for Workers’ Comp
Aug 18 2014 // As we pass the halfway point of 2014, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is relatively optimistic about the outlook for the workers’ compensation market in America. Industry costs remain largely...
Beauty Contestant Busted Through Social Media For Workers’ Comp Fraud
Aug 15 2014 // Shawna Lynn Palmer, 22, of Riverside has been arrested for workers’ compensation fraud after video evidence showed her participating in the 2014 Miss Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix beauty contest. Palmer, a clerk at...
Another $1B Workers’ Comp Rebate Proposed for Ohio
Aug 13 2014 // Governor John R. Kasich and Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Administrator/CEO Steve Buehrer announced a $1 billion rebate to Ohio’s private and public sector workers’ compensation customers, as...
