Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines

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

Calif. Man Arrested for Workers’ Comp Fraud

Jan 9 2003 // Ralph Taeger, 66, of Placerville, Calif. was arrested for workers’ compensation premium fraud on Jan. 2, 2003. Taeger surrendered to California Department of Insurance (CDI) investigators and was booked into the El...

GUARD Rating Upgraded to ‘A-‘

Jan 8 2003 // GUARD Insurance Group, a Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based workers’ compensation insurer, announced that A.M. Best upgraded the ratings of it and its subsidiaries, AmGUARD, EastGUARD, and NorGUARD, to “A-” in...

Calif. Commissioner Delivers Inaugural Speech

Jan 8 2003 // Calif. Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi recently delivered his inaugural speech on Jan. 6, 2003, as he took the Oath of Office in a ceremony at the Assembly Chambers California Capitol Building. The following is the...

New Bills Go Live in Calif.

Jan 1 2003 // Gov. Gray Davis and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature came to agreement on 1,168 bills during the last session, making it the most bills Davis has signed in a single year since taking office in 1999. A couple of...

Calif. Man Surrenders on Fraud Charges

Dec 31 2002 // A Lodi, Calif. man was arrested on numerous felony charges as a result of a joint investigation by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Criminal Investigations Branch’s Fraud Division, the San Joaquin County...

Security Fund Takes Over Eel River Workers Comp Payments

Dec 27 2002 // California Department of Industrial Relations (CDIR) Acting Director Chuck Cake has ordered the state’s Self Insurers’ Security Fund to take over payment of Eel River Sawmill’s workers’ compensation...

Santa Claus Issued Special Two Day ND Workers Comp Certificate

Dec 24 2002 // The following press bulletin was received from Mark Armstrong of North Dakota Workers Compensation. Due to the timely nature of the dispatch, and the hope that regulators in other states will take notice, we are taking the...

MO Dept. of Insurance Takes Over two KC-based Workers Comp Companies

Dec 23 2002 // Cole County Circuit Judge Thomas Brown granted the petition of Scott B. Lakin, the Director of the Missouri Department of Insurance (MDI), and placed two Kansas City-based workers compensation insurers in receivership as...

WCRI Says Wide Variations in State Workers’ Comp Medical Fee Schedules Unrelated to Provider Costs

Dec 20 2002 // The substantial variation in workers’ compensation medical fee schedules among the states is not related to the different costs health care providers incur delivering medical services to injured workers, according to...

W. Va. Plans Cuts in Workers’ Comp Expenses

Dec 20 2002 // Officials with the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation division revealed plans reduce their operating expenses by $125 million to $136 million. According to the Charleston Daily Mail, the agency also intends to seek...

Pa. Supreme Court: Workers’ Comp Payments Recoupable from Malpractice Suit Proceeds

Dec 19 2002 // The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a ruling stating that insurers can recoup workers’ compensation payments from malpractice suit proceeds made to injured employees who sue their lawyers for mishandling their...

Calif. Workers’ Comp Deductibles Not Subject to Premium Tax

Dec 19 2002 // The California Board of Equalization (BOE) ruled Dec. 18 that workers’ compensation deductibles are not subject to a proposed retroactive state premium tax. In an appeal brought by three companies, Employers...

Calif. DOI’s Retroactive Tax Bad for Workers, Business, Alliance Says

Dec 18 2002 // The Alliance of American Insurers urged the California Board of Equalization (BOE) to overrule the state Department of Insurance’s (DOI) efforts to impose a retroactive premium tax upon companies writing...

Alabama to Hold Jan. Workers’ Comp Hearing

Dec 17 2002 // The Alabama Department of Insurance announced it will hold a public hearing on Jan. 14, 2003, to consider the proposed loss costs and rating values for the workers compensation voluntary market and the assigned risk rates...

OKLA. WC COVERAGE QUESTIONED

Dec 16 2002 // Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher warned employers in his state that certain workers’ compensation policies sold by American Insurance Managers (AIM) of Atlanta, Ga. may not actually exist. According to...

8 is Enough – Programs That Caught Our Eye

Dec 16 2002 // For this end-of-the year edition of Insurance Journal, we looked at some unique or interesting programs and found eight that grabbed our attention. Obviously they do not represent a comprehensive list, which is admittedly...

8 is Enough – Programs That Caught Our Eye

Dec 16 2002 // For this end-of-the year edition of Insurance Journal, we looked at some unique or interesting programs and found eight that grabbed our attention. Obviously they do not represent a comprehensive list, which is admittedly...

New Orleans Cop Indicted in Workers’ Comp Case

Dec 12 2002 // A New Orleans police officer who allegedly schemed to collect unauthorized workers’ compensation payments for eight months last year was charged with 18 counts of mail fraud. According to the New Orleans Times...

N.Y. Woman Arrested on Charges of Workers’ Comp Fraud

Dec 12 2002 // New York Superintendent of Insurance Gregory Serio announced the arrest of Linda Ellis of Elmira, N.Y. on a charges of violating the Workers’ Compensation Law, committing fraudulent practice, offering a false...

Calif. Workers’ Comp Claims Examiner Arrested

Dec 10 2002 // Investigators with the California Department of Insurance (CDI), Criminal Investigations Branch’s Fraud Division arrested Elisa I. Guillermo, 38, of Concord, Calif., and her sister, Juliet I. Armstrong, 41, also of...