Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
North Carolina House Passes Workers’ Compensation Changes
Jun 1 2011 // The North Carolina House of Representatives has approved changes to rules governing workers’ compensation claims. The House chamber voted Tuesday in support of a consensus bill whose chief sponsor said came together...
Senate-Approved Workers’ Comp Overhaul Rejected by Illinois House
May 31 2011 // A major overhaul of the state’s costly workers compensation system failed in the Illinois House on May 29, raising the possibility that lawmakers would push to entirely abolish a system that handles tens of thousands...
Workers’ Comp Reform Approved in Illinois Senate
May 31 2011 // A plan to overhaul workers’ compensation to cut business costs and curb corruption emerged May 28 and was approved by the Illinois Senate. The measure, which came after six months of negotiations and now heads to the...
Colo. Governor Approves Workers’ Comp Reforms
May 27 2011 // Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed legislation approving state workers’ compensation reforms. Senate Bill 11-199, sponsored in the House by James Riesberg, D, and sponsored in the Senate by Lois Tochtrop, D:...
Colo. Court Awards $18M to Worker Injured by Telephone Pole Collapse
May 27 2011 // The Colorado Supreme Court has upheld an award of $18 million in exemplary damages to an Xcel Energy lineman who was injured when a Qwest Communications International Inc. telephone pole that he was working on...
Illinois Agency Fighting Release of Workers’ Comp Settlement Details
May 26 2011 // The Illinois agency that processes workers’ compensation claims is challenging the state attorney general’s order that it release details tied to millions of dollars in settlements. The Central Management...
Third Coast Underwriters Expands in Gulf Region
May 24 2011 // Third Coast Underwriters, which provides workers’ compensation insurance for underserved markets that have complex risks, is expanding facilities in Louisiana and Texas, and adding the availability of workers’...
Massachusetts Court Allows Workers’ Suit Against Contractor
May 24 2011 // A worker who was injured and the estate of another who died at a Massachusetts construction site can sue the contractor who oversaw the job — despite the fact the contractor’s insurer has already paid them...
Finally, Wash. Legislators Agree on Workers’ Comp Reform
May 23 2011 // Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, House Speaker Frank Chopp, Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt and House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt announced the Legislature finally has come to an...
Montana State Fund Cuts Rates 20%
May 23 2011 // The board of Montana State Fund, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, cut its rates by 20 percent, in a move that some hope will help the business community and encourage more job creation and...
Colo. Court: Insurer Can’t Be Sued By Another Insurer for Failing to Cancel Policy
May 20 2011 // A Colorado Court of Appeal has ruled that an insurer cannot file suit against another insurer for its failure to cancel a policy. According to court documents in First Comp Insurance v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office of...
Wash. Lawmakers Continue to Struggle on Workers’ Comp Deal
May 20 2011 // Leading Washington lawmakers are struggling to find a compromise that would alter the state’s workers’ compensation system and help seal a budget agreement. Negotiators emerged from a 45-minute, closed-door...
West Virginia Seeks Bids on Workers’ Compensation for State Agencies
May 20 2011 // West Virginia is prepared to solicit bids from workers’ compensation insurers to provide coverage for its state employees. The West Virginia insurance department is scheduled to post the request for proposals on its...
Calif. Workers’ Comp Bureau Declines Again to Make Mid-Year Filing
May 19 2011 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California’s Governing Committee has decided, again, not to make a mid-year rate filing. At its April 6, 2011 meeting, the WCIRB Governing Committee directed...
Why Bragging May Create a Greater Legal Duty of Care
May 19 2011 // It has often been said that every attorney has a little larceny in his heart. In similar fashion, it could be said that every insurance agent has a little puffery in his heart regarding his book of business, background and...
Oklahoma Senate Approves Massive Late-Session Work Comp Bill
May 19 2011 // The Oklahoma Senate has approved a more than 200-page bill that completely overhauls Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation laws. The proposal emerged in the Oklahoma House just three days before lawmakers are...
Calif. Workers’ Comp Premium Written Edges Up to $7.1B
May 18 2011 // California workers’ compensation insurers’ total direct written premium (DWP) rose 3.1 percent to $7.1 billion last year, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) posted...
Illinois Workers’ Comp Commission Adds Rascia, Kimmet
May 17 2011 // The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission announced that Ron Rascia has joined the organization as legal counsel and Mark Kimmet has been named internal auditor. Rascia previously worked for the Illinois Attorney...
Calif. Assembly Bans Workers’ Comp Cuts Due to Race, Sex
May 16 2011 // California’s Assembly approved changes to the state’s safety net for injured workers that would prevent cuts to disability benefits based on race, sex or age. The 44-22 party-line vote on AB1155 came over the...
Business Lobby Gets Mixed Results in Missouri Legislature
May 16 2011 // Missouri Republicans came into this year’s legislative session with historic majorities and a pledge to push a pro-business agenda they said would improve the state’s economy and lower its stubbornly high...
