Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Panel Criticized Over Outside Adviser
Feb 22 2011 // An audit has found the Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Funding Commission paid about $510,000 to a private financial adviser when the law requires it to use state-employed advisers. Auditor Crit Luallen said the...
Oklahoma Governor Says She Won’t Replace Workers’ Comp System
Feb 21 2011 // Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin says recommendations from a panel she appointed to overhaul the workers’ compensation system won’t include a proposal to change to a system where workers with claims don’t have...
Medical Marijuana Raises Workers’ Comp, Liability Issues for Employers
Feb 21 2011 // Fifteen states and the District of Columbia currently have laws that approve medical marijuana as a medical treatment option, which has increasingly important implications in the workplace. Arizona voters recently passed...
Achieving Social Objectives, Public Interest in Workers’ Comp
Feb 21 2011 // It is generally agreed that workers’ compensation has five primary objectives: Broad coverage of employees and of work related injuries and diseases. Substantial protection against interruption of income. Provision...
Safer Workplaces, But Older Workforce
Feb 21 2011 // Looking ahead for workers’ compensation in the coming decades, we see the best of times and the worst of times. On the positive side, workplaces have never been safer and the frequency of reported injuries has been...
Medical Losses, Top Line Growth Top Challenges for Workers’ Comp
Feb 21 2011 // The workers’ compensation industry in the years ahead will exist much as it has for decades in many respects. Policyholders will purchase coverage from either an agent or a company, with a portion of the market...
Service Economy Encouraging, Obesity Discouraging for Workers’ Comp
Feb 21 2011 // I believe that one of the favorable trends impacting workers’ compensation in the decades ahead will be driven by our service based economy. There will be relatively fewer manufacturing and construction injuries for...
No Business As Usual For Agents in Workers’ Compensation
Feb 21 2011 // It may be the perfect storm that will change the workers’ compensation landscape for decades. Individually, the forces are daunting, but put together the impact could be industry changing. Health care reform,...
Demographics, Health Reform, Economy, Data to Help Define Future
Feb 21 2011 // The number of workers over age 55 is quickly growing. Carriers need to understand the physical abilities, limitations, and unique exposures of aging workers to be able to properly assess work safety and wellness programs...
Economy, Expenses, Employers’ Clout Likely to Discourage Major Changes to System
Feb 21 2011 // I begin with the following assumptions: The economic situation at the state and federal level will continue — if not worsen — over the next two to five years and unemployment will remain high before falling into the...
Workers’ Compensation – Now What?
Feb 21 2011 // Industry Leaders On the Challenges Ahead for Century-Old System This year marks the 100th anniversary of the workers’ compensation system in the U.S., as explained by Christopher J. Boggs, director of Education with...
A Changing Workforce Among Many Challenges Facing Workers’ Comp
Feb 21 2011 // Looking out into the future, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has identified a number of issues that industry stakeholders are watching closely, including: Growing Healthcare Costs: General healthcare...
Workers’ Compensation History: The Great Tradeoff!
Feb 21 2011 // Pirates of the 18th century and a 19th century German “Iron” Chancellor preceded the United States in the creation of a social system for the protection of injured workers. The modern U.S. workers’...
Montana Vows to Reform Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Feb 21 2011 // Legislators in Montana are making workers’ compensation reform a priority in 2011, having introduced three bills aimed at lowering rates: House Bill 87 would cap the amount that doctors and those in the health care...
Mulryan Named Chair of Calif. State Fund
Feb 21 2011 // The California State Compensation Insurance Fund is likely to face challenges of medical cost increases and the risk of eroding workers’ compensation reforms in the next year. Yet outgoing board chairwoman Jeanne...
Advising Clients on How to Minimize Medical Liens in Workers’ Compensation
Feb 21 2011 // Close early and close quickly. For brokers advising their clients on how to control their workers’ compensation costs, this axiom is a prime directive. There are a host of reasons why this does not always happen. As...
Liens Stress California Workers’ Compensation System
Feb 21 2011 // Liens are “choking” California’s workers’ compensation system, with employers and insurers spending roughly $200 million per year in the state on loss adjustment expense to handle medical liens...
The Biggest Loser
Feb 21 2011 // The adage bigger is better is not necessarily true. Moving larger things — people and objects — requires more physical strain. And recent reports indicate that being super-sized creates economic pains as well. A recent...
Regulatory Ventilation
Feb 21 2011 // The Oversight and Government Reform Committee of U.S. House of Representatives has been looking into whether and how governmental regulations hurt business operations and job creation. In a recent hearing chaired by Rep....
People
Feb 21 2011 // Joe De Poo Dallas-based RISC Inc. added Joe de Poo as vice president in its Transportation Department. De Poo has more than 25 years of insurance industry experience, most of which has been dedicated to Commercial...
