Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines

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

Texas Woman, Man Convicted of Workers’ Comp Fraud in Separate Cases

Dec 6 2019 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported that two Texans have been convicted of workers’ compensation fraud in two separate cases. The workers’ compensation insurer said Sharon Boachie of Arlington and Larry Toliver...

Fitch Sees Stronger Commercial Lines But Weaker Auto, Work Comp Results Coming

Dec 6 2019 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance sector should see small improvements in underwriting profits in 2019 and 2020, thanks largely to commercial lines price increases, Fitch Ratings predicts in a new report. But personal...

Study: California Self-Insured Employers Save Over Traditional Workers’ Comp

Dec 5 2019 // A new study on California workers’ compensation shows the cost of self-insurance is 14% to 28% less than a traditional workers’ comp policy. It should be noted that the study was commissioned by the California...

Railcar Service Company Faces $551K in Penalties After Worker Death in Pennsylvania

Dec 5 2019 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Dana Railcare, based in Wilmington, Del., for confined space hazards after an employee fatality in Pittston, Penn. The...

1.6% Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease Recommended for Missouri in 2020

Dec 5 2019 // The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance is recommending a 1.6 percent decrease in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs for 2020. This marks the sixth year in a row that average workers’...

Report on California Workers’ Comp Looks at Medical Provider Fraud

Dec 4 2019 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California in a follow-up analysis to its 2018 study that evaluated the potential impact of medical provider fraud enforcement shows indicted providers treated...

Washington Workers’ Comp Rates Dropping Third Straight Year

Dec 2 2019 // The price of workers’ compensation insurance is dropping in Washington for the third consecutive year. The Washington Department of Labor & Industries in late November announced a 0.8% decrease in the average...

Lawyer Says OSHA Looking into Arrest of Worker in New Orleans Hotel Collapse

Nov 27 2019 // The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating allegations that the immigration arrest of a construction worker hurt in the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel construction site in New Orleans was...

Missouri Contractor Faces $210K in Penalties for Workplace Safety Hazards

Nov 26 2019 // Federal workplace safety officials have proposed $210,037 in penalties against a Missouri contractor protect employees from trench collapse and electrical hazards. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety...

Washington Workers’ Comp Rates Dropping Third Straight Year

Nov 25 2019 // The price of workers’ compensation insurance is dropping in Washington for the third consecutive year. The Washington Department of Labor & Industries on Monday announced a 0.8% decrease in the average amount...

Study Says Medical Payments Per Workers’ Comp Claim Decreased in North Carolina

Nov 22 2019 // Medical payments per claim in North Carolina decreased five to seven percent per year since 2014, according to a recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). These decreases likely reflect fee...

Statewide Overall Decrease of 7.5% Approved for Florida Workers’ Comp Rates

Nov 21 2019 // Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier has issued a final order granting approval to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for a statewide overall decrease of 7.5% for Florida workers’...

Report on California Workers’ Comp Shows Steady Independent Medical Review Activity

Nov 20 2019 // More than 15,400 independent medical reviews a month are issued in California’s worker’s compensation system, according to a new report from the Department of Industrial Relations. The DIR this week issued a...

Insurer Market Conduct Troubles Often Traced to Claims Handling Errors

Nov 19 2019 // Mistakes by claims professionals were the most common reason for enforcement actions taken against U.S. property and casualty insurers in 2018, taking the No. 1 and No. 2 spot on a top 10 list issued by the Wolters Kluwer...

WCRI: Workers’ Comp Medical Payments in Minnesota Stable

Nov 18 2019 // A recent study by a national workers’ compensation research organization found that Minnesota workers’ compensation medical payments per claim remained stable from 2012 to 2017. The study, CompScope Medical...

Alabama Court Allows Workers Comp Suit Against AIG, Coventry

Nov 18 2019 // An Alabama appellate court has cleared the way for a lawsuit that alleges outrageous and fraudulent conduct by American International Group and Coventry against a worker who was injured in an explosion and sought...

Carolina Amusement Park Fined $42K by OSHA Over Maintenance Worker Injury

Nov 15 2019 // Federal safety officials have fined an amusement park on the North Carolina-South Carolina line after a maintenance worker was injured last March. The Charlotte Observer reports the Occupational Safety and Health...

California Insurance Commissioner OKs Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Reduction

Nov 14 2019 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has adopted and issued a revised average advisory pure premium rate, lowering the benchmark to $1.52 per $100 of payroll for workers’ compensation insurance, effective...

Drop in California Workers’ Comp Opioid Use Reducing Claims $6.5B, Report Shows

Nov 12 2019 // The prevalence of opioids in California workers’ compensation lost-time claims has dropped 51% over the past decade, reducing both average benefit payments and average days away from work on those claims, according...

Insurtech Pie Launches TV Campaign in California for Workers’ Comp

Nov 12 2019 // Workers’ compensation insurtech Pie Insurance has launched its first national television advertisement campaign with an initial focus in California. The two 30-second spots depict Pie coming to the rescue,...