Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calif. State Fund Board: Drop Rates 7%
Oct 5 2012 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund’s board voted on Friday for a 7 percent decrease in its 2013 rates, a move that reflects State Fund’s anticipated savings from a workers’ compensation...
Virginia Regulators Set Hearing on WC Premium Level Adjustments
Oct 5 2012 // The Virginia State Corporation Commission has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 16 to consider a request filed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. to adjust the premium levels charged for workers’ comp...
WC Billing Company to Pay $1M for Alleged Overcharges in Massachusetts
Oct 5 2012 // A workers’ comp pharmacy billing company has agreed to pay restitution after allegedly overcharging Massachusetts and a number of cities and towns within the state for prescription drugs through the workers’...
Father and Daughter in Central Calif. Workers’ Comp. Fraud Must Repay Over $600K
Oct 5 2012 // Jerry Buffington, 69, and Cynthia Russell, 47, have pled guilty in Kern County Superior Court to one count each of workers’ compensation insurance premium fraud and eight counts each of tax evasion and were ordered...
Calif. State Fund May Recommend Workers’ Comp Rate Drop in Days
Oct 4 2012 // Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles to look at California’s workers’ compensation reform law in detail and what must be done to implement that law by Jan. 1, 2013. California’s...
Worksite Death Leads to $189K Fine for Texas O&G Service Company
Oct 4 2012 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Halcon Resources Corp. for two willful and seven serious safety violations following a fatality at the company’s work site...
Texas’ 99 Cent Stores Fined $121K for Safety Violations
Oct 3 2012 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Commerce, Calif.-based 99 Cent Only Stores Texas Inc. with 19 serious safety and health violations at the company’s Houston...
ICW Group Names Lysak Branch Manager for Workers’ Comp in Carolinas
Oct 3 2012 // ICW Group Insurance Companies has named Suzanne Lysak as its workers’ compensation branch manager in North Carolina and South Carolina. Lysak has 20 years of experience in the workers’ compensation insurance...
Equity Risk Partners Launches Defense, Government Contractor Practice Group
Oct 3 2012 // Equity Risk Partners, an insurance brokerage, employee benefits and risk management consulting firm, has launched a new practice group for defense, aerospace and government contractors. DefCon Risk Group will focus on...
Physicians Failing to Treat Narcotics Abuse by Injured Workers: Study
Oct 2 2012 // Nearly 1 in 12 injured workers given narcotics are still on them 3 to 6 months later as few doctors appear to be following recommended treatment guidelines to prevent abuse, according to new research. This report,...
BrickStreet Remains Biggest Workers’ Compensation Writer in West Virginia
Oct 2 2012 // BrickStreet Insurance is still the dominant workers’ compensation insurer in West Virginia, despite competition from more than 200 other companies. The Legislature created BrickStreet in 2005 to replace what had been...
Calif. Rating Bureau Drops Workers’ Comp Advisory Rates
Oct 1 2012 // After a review of a workers’ compensation overhaul bill signed two weeks ago by Gov. Jerry Brown, the Workers’ Compensation Rating Bureau submitted a filing on Monday to lower the pure premium advisory rate for...
Calif.’s Brown Record ‘Solid’ on Insurance Legislation
Sep 28 2012 // Gov. Jerry Brown saw over a dozen bills related in some way to insurance come across his desk, with a bill to approve driverless cars, a bill to overhaul California’s workers’ compensation system among...
South Carolina Erotic Dancer Not Covered by Workers’ Compensation
Sep 27 2012 // A South Carolina court has found that an erotic dancer who suffered a gunshot wound while performing is not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits since she didn’t meet the definition of being an employee...
Massachusetts Court Rules on Scope of Independent Contractor Exclusion
Sep 25 2012 // A Massachusetts court recently ruled in favor of insurer Lloyd’s in a dispute over a commercial property and general liability policy excluding coverage for independent contractors. The insured, a property...
National Interstate Adds Workers’ Comp to Passenger Program
Sep 24 2012 // National Interstate Insurance Co., a provider of transportation insurance, will add workers’ compensation to its traditional insurance program for best-in-class passenger transportation operations on Oct. 1, 2012....
Company Cited for Safety/Health Violations at Louisiana Facility
Sep 24 2012 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Westlake Vinyls Co. LP in Geismar, La., for 10 serious safety and health violations, primarily related to OSHA’s process...
Wyoming Agency Seeks $60,000 From Sinclair After Fire
Sep 24 2012 // Wyoming workplace safety regulators have handed down a dozen citations and are seeking more than $60,000 in fines against Sinclair Oil for a refinery fire that injured two workers. The May 25 fire at the Sinclair Refinery...
Workers’ Comp Changes Go Into Effect in Mississippi
Sep 24 2012 // Insurers and employers in Mississippi now have greater latitude to conduct alcohol and drug tests on employees following a workplace accident and to reduce benefits for workers with pre-existing conditions. Under new...
N.J. Probes Workers Comp TPAs’ Side Deals With Vendors
Sep 24 2012 // The New Jersey comptroller’s office says some workers’ compensation third party administrators (TPAs) have undisclosed side agreements with their vendors which require payments back to the TPAs. This...
