Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines

All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Report calls nation’s workers’ comp programs ‘colossal failure’

Oct 9 2006 // A new report released by consumer rights group Center for Justice & Democracy (CJ&D), is criticizing workers’ compensation programs throughout the country, saying they have been devastating for injured...

Cal/OSHA Cites California Ski Resort Following Patrolmen Deaths

Oct 7 2006 // The California Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), cited Mammoth Mountain Ski Area $49,865 following an investigation into the accidental deaths of three of...

Ohio Agencies Owe Workers’ Comp Fund $46 Million, Director Says

Oct 5 2006 // Ohio agencies owe the state insurance fund for injured workers $46 million in medical management fees that the agencies weren’t charged for over several years, according to the fund’s director. William Mabe,...

The Hartford, First Health Group Workers’ Comp Network Approved in Texas

Oct 5 2006 // The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. reported it has gained certification to offer its workers’ compensation clients in the Houston area access to The Hartford Workers’ Compensation Health Care...

Specialty Risk Services Workers’ Comp Network Certified for Texas

Oct 4 2006 // Specialty Risk Services, LLC (SRS) announced the certification of its Texas Workers’ Compensation Health Care Network by the Texas Department of Insurance. The company will begin offering the new network to all...

Utah Workers’ Comp Fund Evaluates Worker Elegibility

Oct 4 2006 // Utah’s Workers Compensation Fund recently came under fire for propsing workers’ eligibility to benefits be evaluated. Based on its proposal, some in the mainstream media interpreted WCF’s actions as...

OSHA Seeking $84K Fine in Pa. Workplace Elevator Death

Oct 3 2006 // A contractor faces $63,000 in federal workplace safety fines for an accident in which a subcontractor’s employee was decapitated by an elevator. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed the...

Masonry Firm Faces OSHA Fines in Deadly Mass. Scaffolding Collapse

Oct 3 2006 // A masonry contractor faces $119,000 in fines for alleged safety violations that led to a scaffolding collapse at a downtown construction site that killed three last spring, according to federal officials. The U.S....

Calif. Workers’ Comp Rating Bureau Releases Cost Monitoring Report

Oct 3 2006 // California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has released its 2006 Legislative Cost Monitoring Report. According to the report, physician fees have been reduced by about 4 percent since...

N.Y. Business Owner Caught Forging Insurance Certificate

Sep 29 2006 // A 54-year-old business owner pleaded guilty to issuing a false certificate of insurance claiming to have workers’ compensation insurance with the New York State Insurance Fund, according to the NYSIF. NYSIF said that...

Project Manager Indicted in Texas for Workers’ Comp Fraud

Sep 29 2006 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that a Travis County, Texas, grand jury indicted Higgie Highsmith of San Antonio on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Highsmith allegedly collected $7,112 in...

California Anticipates Lowering Workers’ Comp Rates

Sep 29 2006 // Califiornia Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced he will likely recommend a further reduction in workers’ compensation insurance rates of at least an additional 6.3 percent. Based on pre-reform trends, the...

Court Rules Hurt Prison Guard Not Entitled to Workers’ Comp

Sep 28 2006 // A California correctional officer who was hurt while helping at an accident while on his way to work is not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, the Third Appellate District Court of Appeal has ruled. It...

Oregon Employers To Pay Less for Workers’ Comp in 2007

Sep 28 2006 // Oregon will reduce the workers’ compensation “pure” premium rate by 2.1 percent for 2007, Governor Ted Kulongoski announced, maintaining Oregon’s streak of not raising the rate in 16...

AIG to Refund $14 Million in Florida Settlement

Sep 27 2006 // Under a consent order issued by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, AIG Insurance Company will be required to refund or credit approximately $13.6 million in workers’ compensation, and approximately...

York Insurance Services Invests in Southern California Risk Management

Sep 27 2006 // York Insurance Services Group Inc., a Parsippany, N.J.-based insurance services provider, has acquired Eventide Risk Management LLC, a provider of workers’ compensation and medical cost containment services in...

Texas Announces Workers’ Comp Discount and Interest Rates for Q4

Sep 27 2006 // The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation announced it has determined that any interest or discount provided for in the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act shall be at the rate of 8.53...

Fla. to Hear Industry’s Bid to Cut Workers Comp Rates 13%

Sep 26 2006 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance filed a proposed 13.3 percent decrease in Florida workers compensation rates that will face a public hearing next month in Tallahassee. According to the Florida Office of...

Insurers Reject Notion of TRIA Renewal for Nuclear-Biological Terrorism Risk Only

Sep 26 2006 // A new federal government report concludes that a totally private market solution to insuring against certain terrorist attacks is unlikely in the near future. The report covers the risk of nuclear, biological, chemical or...

Texas Reports Workers’ Comp State Average Weekly Wage for FY 2007

Sep 26 2006 // The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation reported that the workers’ compensation state average weekly wage for Fiscal Year 2007 is set at $673.80 and is effective for dates of injury...