Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Louisiana Workers’ Comp Insurer Says Claims Fell 4% in 2009
Jan 8 2010 // Baton Rouge, La.-based LUBA Workers’ Comp policyholders’ claims fell more than 4 percent in 2009 compared with 2008. The company said several of the top categories of accidents dropped as well. Slips, trips and...
Washington Saves $128 Million By Fighting Fraud
Jan 7 2010 // The fight against fraud in the workers’ compensation system brought in $128 million to Washington last year, according to a new report from the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). In addition to...
Court Upholds $500 Million Award Against U.S. Life Insurance Co.
Jan 7 2010 // The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an arbitration award requiring U.S. Life Insurance Co. to pay reinsurance of more than $500 million to Superior National Insurance Companies, workers’ compensation...
Company Fined More than $1.4M for Worker Death at Houston Facility
Jan 6 2010 // Federal regulators have fined a Houston company $1,477,500 for a July 2009 explosion that left a worker dead. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited CES Environmental Services Inc. after an investigation...
Obama Labor Chief Taking Aggressive Approach to Workplace Safety
Jan 5 2010 // Soon after she became the nation’s labor secretary, Hilda Solis warned corporate America there was “a new sheriff in town.” Less than a year into her tenure, that figurative badge of authority is...
Georgia Opens Probe of SEUS Insurance CEO Over Accounting
Jan 5 2010 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine’s office has begun a criminal investigation into the business practices of M. Clark Fain, III, the former chief executive officer of Southeastern U.S. Insurance, Inc....
Report: Florida’s Workers’ Comp Market is Competitive
Dec 31 2009 // A new report released by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation concludes the state’s workers’ compensation insurance market is competitive. The report, based on data from 2008, shows the Florida market...
Missouri Says Workers’ Comp Loss Costs Should Drop by 8.1%
Dec 30 2009 // After reviewing statewide data for insurance claims paid by employers for injured workers in 2009, the Missouri Department of Insurance is recommending an overall 8.1 percent decrease in workers’ compensation loss...
Study: Narcotic Drugs Major Cost in Workers’ Compensation Claims
Dec 29 2009 // When it comes to workers’ compensation prescription costs, narcotic drugs account for nearly one quarter of the cost, according to a new industry study. Despite the serious risks associated with narcotics usage, some...
Texas Imperial Sugar Settles Property Claim for 2008 Georgia Explosion
Dec 29 2009 // Sugarland, Texas-based Imperial Sugar Co. has settled the property insurance claim for the February 2008 industrial explosion at its Port Wentworth, Georgia refinery for an aggregate of $345 million. A final $45 million...
Texas Sets Workers’ Comp Interest and Discount Rate at 3.85%
Dec 23 2009 // The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation has set the interest and discount rate for the first quarter of 2010 at 3.85 percent. The rate, effective from Jan. 1, 2010, through March 31, is...
Massachusetts Court: No Workers’ Comp for Custodian’s 1999 Injury
Dec 22 2009 // A church custodian who was injured in a ladder fall, but waited nearly five years to file a workers’ comp claim is barred from collecting benefits, a Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled. The employee in this case,...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Board Adopts New Provider Fee Schedules
Dec 21 2009 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors has adopted new fee schedules that will increase overall reimbursements to Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASC) and Vocational Rehabilitation providers...
Lawyer Says North Dakota Teller Deserves Workers’ Comp Benefits
Dec 21 2009 // A bank teller from a small North Dakota town says she’s scared and can no longer work after she was held up at gunpoint and left handcuffed on the floor. Now she’s getting robbed by the state workers’...
Increasing Benefits Lengthens Workers’ Compensation Claim Duration: Study
Dec 20 2009 // States that increase the maximum weekly benefit for workers compensation can expect to see injured workers with temporary total disability making claims for longer, almost a week longer, according to a new study released...
It Figures
Dec 20 2009 // 0 The number of Atlantic hurricanes that came ashore the U.S. this past storm season, a season that turned out to be the quietest since 2006. Since June, just nine named storms developed. Only three of them became...
Six Factors Create Volatility in Calif. Workers’ Comp Insurance Market
Dec 18 2009 // “Since insurance rates were partially deregulated in 1995, the California workers’ compensation insurance market has been very volatile. For reasons that go beyond price deregulation, there have been dramatic...
Workers’ Comp Insurer HIH Hawaii Liquidated
Dec 17 2009 // The Hawaii State Insurance Division has successfully closed HIH America Insurance Company of Hawaii, a Hawaii workers’ compensation insurance company. Financial problems of its affiliated companies in Australia and...
Delaware Sub Shop Owner Faces Fraud Charges in New York
Dec 17 2009 // A former New York State Corrections officer who reportedly owned two Delaware sandwich shops surrendered to authorities in New York last week to face workers’ compensation fraud charges initiated by the New York...
Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation Declares $15M Dividend
Dec 17 2009 // The Board of Directors of Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation (LWCC) has declared a 2009 dividend of $15 million, to be paid to qualifying policyholders in early 2010 upon authorization by the Louisiana...
