Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Cal/OSHA Cites Manufacturer, Staffing Firm $300K for Amputation of Worker’s Fingers
Apr 16 2019 // Cal/OSHA has cited two employers more than $300,000 after a temporary worker lost two fingers cleaning machinery at a food manufacturing facility in Los Angeles, Calif. On Oct. 2, 2018, the employee for Priority Workforce...
Ohio Freight Hauler Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud, Must Repay $144K
Apr 16 2019 // The owner of a Mansfield, Ohio, freight hauling and trucking company convicted on four felony charges related to workers’ compensation fraud, has been ordered to pay the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation...
Ruling on Stabbing Prompts Calls for National Workplace Violence Prevention Standard
Apr 16 2019 // A federal commission decision that an employer had a duty to protect a social services worker who was stabbed to death by a client, even though the company did not violate any specific safety standard, reinvigorated...
California State Fund Reports Increase in Net Income in 2018
Apr 15 2019 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund reported an increase of net income and written premium in its just-released annual report for 2018. Financial highlights of the 2018 annual report include: Net income of...
Cal/OSHA Cites Contractor After Workers Hospitalized for Valley Fever
Apr 15 2019 // Cal/OSHA has issued serious health and safety citations to Underground Construction Co. Inc. of Benicia, Calif., after two of its employees contracted Valley Fever. The workers were reportedly exposed to the fungal disease...
AM Best Upgrades Issuer Credit Rating of Louisiana Workers’ Comp Insurer Stonetrust
Apr 12 2019 // AM Best has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to “bbb+” from “bbb” and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) of Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Co....
California Written Workers’ Comp Premium Down, Quarterly Report for Last Year Shows
Apr 11 2019 // California written premium for 2018 was 4 percent below 2017 and 6 percent below 2016 as recent declining premium rates have more than offset payroll growth, according to a report from the Workers’ Compensation...
California State Fund Launches Telehealth Services
Apr 11 2019 // California’s State Fund will now provide injured workers round-the-clock access physicians from a desktop computer, tablet or mobile phone. State Fund on Thursday announced its partnership with Kura MD, a provider of...
Two Texas Companies Charged in Separate Workers’ Comp Fraud Cases
Apr 11 2019 // Two Texas companies have been indicted by Travis County grand juries in separate cases involving alleged workers’ compensation premium fraud. The Texas Department of Insurance reported that Amer Haurani of Ambassador...
Louisiana Workers’ Comp Insurer Declares $51M Policyholder Dividend
Apr 10 2019 // Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based workers’ compensation mutual insurer, LWCC, will distribute a $51 million dividend for 2018 to more than 20,000 policyholders in mid-April. This amount represents one-fourth of the...
Progress Report on California Workers’ Comp Independent Bill Review
Apr 9 2019 // A progress report from the California Division of Workers’ Compensation on the state’s Independent Bill Review program shows seven of 10 decided cases resulted in additional payment for the provider. IBR is a...
Workers Injured at Texas Chemical Plant Damaged by Fire File Suit
Apr 8 2019 // A growing number of lawsuits are springing from the ashes at a Houston-area chemical plant that caught fire this week killing a worker. Two plant employees filed separate state suits Wednesday against KMCO LLC, claiming...
Morones Promoted to Director of Claims at CompWest
Apr 4 2019 // CompWest has promoted Lila Morones to director of Claims. Morones has been with the company for 11 years. She has 28 years of insurance industry experience. In addition to CompWest, Intercare Insurance, Morones has worked...
Loss-Cost Reduction for Workers’ Comp Insurance Approved in Pennsylvania
Apr 2 2019 // Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman has approved a loss-cost filing, including a 12.95% reduction in loss-costs – a component in determining workers’ comp insurance rates paid by businesses. This...
Maine’s The MEMIC Group Appoints Roberts, Michaud as Directors
Apr 1 2019 // Workers’ compensation specialist The MEMIC Group has appointed Amanda Roberts as director of financial reporting, in which she will oversee its financial forecasting, budgeting and general ledger...
Workers’ Comp and the Gig Economy: Status Quo Remains, for Now
Apr 1 2019 // The rise of an on-demand economy once threatened to put workers’ compensation insurers in the hot seat, in large part because the question of how the sector could, or should, cover these individuals remained...
Another View
Apr 1 2019 // Bunker, a startup broker focused on independent contractors and small businesses, sees gig workers and their workers’ compensation insurance needs as a lucrative proposition. “Bunker has worked with leading...
Today’s Hot Markets
Apr 1 2019 // Telemedicine, Breweries, Intellectual property, Nurseries and Cottage foods Insurance Journal examined industries experiencing changes, challenges, expansions and growth in the past year. Here are five industry sectors and...
Attorney Turned Criminal Apologizes to Insurers for Giant Workers’ Comp Fraud
Apr 1 2019 // Sean Enrique O’Keefe said he started out as a “humanistic attorney,” but he became a mercenary and then a criminal who netted $700,000 a year by sending San Diego workers’ compensation claimants to...
Cal/OSHA Cites Contractor After Workers Hospitalized for Valley Fever
Mar 29 2019 // Cal/OSHA has issued serious health and safety citations to Underground Construction Co. Inc. of Benicia, Calif. after two of its employees contracted Valley Fever. The workers were reportedly exposed to the fungal disease...
