Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report: California Self-Insured Workers’ Comp Claim Frequency Rose Last Year
Oct 8 2018 // Workers’ compensation claim frequency reported by California’s private self-insured employers rose last year, the first increase in a decade, according to the California Workers’ Compensation...
Ohio Manufacturer Cited for Safety Violations, Fined $213K
Oct 5 2018 // Federal officials have cited Norwalk, Ohio-based American Excelsior Company for workplace safety hazards and proposed $213,411 in penalties against the company after an employee required hospitalization when he suffered a...
Summary of 2018 Workers’ Comp-Related Bills Signed into Law in California
Oct 4 2018 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California on Thursday issued a summary of legislation signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown. The Legislature recessed for the year on Aug. 31, and Brown had until...
Florida Woman Arrested Over $50K Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme
Oct 4 2018 // A Florida woman was arrested in August and charged with three felony counts of concealing payroll to avoid workers’ compensation premiums and two felony counts of application fraud, according to a statement from the...
West Virginia Workers’ Comp Rates to Decrease Nov. 1
Oct 3 2018 // Workers’ compensation rates will soon be less expensive for businesses in West Virginia. According to West Virginia Insurance Commissioner Allan McVey, a filing for a 13 percent decrease in voluntary market loss...
Idaho Workers’ Compensation Rates to Decrease in 2019
Oct 2 2018 // The Idaho Department of Insurance has proved a 4.2 percent drop in workers’ compensation insurance rates effective Jan. 1, 2019. The proposed rate change comes from the National Council on Compensation Insurance, and...
Texas Accepting Comments on 2019 Workers’ Comp Research Agenda
Oct 2 2018 // The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) is accepting comment on the proposed Fiscal Year 2019 Research Agenda of the Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group...
BusinessFirst Insurance OK’d to Offer Workers’ Comp in Indiana
Oct 2 2018 // BusinessFirst Insurance Co. has received all regulatory approvals from the Indiana Department of Insurance to begin offering workers’ compensation insurance coverage in the state, the company announced. Appointed...
Doctor’s Alleged Fraud Scheme Throws Medical Claims Review Process into Doubt
Oct 2 2018 // For years, Spyros Panos seemed like a successful orthopedic surgeon, seeing dozens of patients a day and bringing in millions of dollars in fees for his suburban New York medical group. In fact, he was inflating charges...
Why Hospitals Charge Auto Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Patients Much More Than Health Insurers
Oct 1 2018 // Insurer market power matters in hospital pricing. Patients with automobile, workers’ compensation, and other non-conventional commercial insurance plans paid much higher prices than patients with HMO/PPO health...
20 People Arrested in Florida in ‘Operation Hot Water’ Workers’ Comp Fraud Sting
Oct 1 2018 // Twenty individuals were arrested in Florida in a workers’ compensation insurance fraud sting operation involving unlicensed contractors in Pasco County in “Operation Hot Water,” according to a statement...
Access to Medical Care in Texas Workers’ Comp System Improving, Study Finds
Oct 1 2018 // From 2005 to 2017, the number of workers’ compensation claims in Texas fell by 20 percent, resulting in a 24 percent decrease in the number of patients per participating doctor in Texas. That’s one of the...
Washington Employers May See Big Drop in Workers’ Comp Costs
Oct 1 2018 // The price of workers’ compensation insurance in Washington could drop significantly in 2019. The Washington Department of Labor & Industries in late September proposed a 5 percent decrease in the average premium...
Pacific Health Care in California Begins Strategic Acquisition Search
Oct 1 2018 // Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pacific Health Care Organization Inc. in late September announced the launch of a strategic acquisition search for an insurance company to add to its suite of comprehensive workers’ comp...
California Governor Signs Bill to Provide Workers’ Comp to Peace Officers Injured out of State
Sep 28 2018 // California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill into law peace officers can file a claim for workers’ compensation if injured or killed while in the line of duty while out of state. Brown signed Assembly Bill 1749 into...
Minnesota Charges Contractor with Workers’ Comp Fraud, Labor Trafficking
Sep 26 2018 // A Minnesota construction contractor has been charged with labor trafficking, insurance fraud and theft by swindle for using undocumented workers on his construction crews and threatening to have them deported unless they...
Construction Company Cited in Connecticut for Safety Hazards, Faces $146K in Penalties
Sep 26 2018 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited L.L.E. Construction LLC for exposing employees to fall and other hazards at a construction worksite in Bridgeport, Conn....
Pacific Health Care in California Begins Strategic Acquisition Search
Sep 24 2018 // Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pacific Health Care Organization Inc. today announced the launch of a strategic acquisition search for an insurance company to add to its suite of comprehensive workers’ comp...
Texas Sets Workers’ Comp Weekly Benefit Rates for Coming Year
Sep 24 2018 // The workers’ compensation state average weekly wage for dates of injury from Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2019, has been set at $937.70, the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation...
Texas Workers’ Comp Study Finds Improvement in Worker Access to Medical Care
Sep 21 2018 // The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation reported in a newly released study that access to medical care for injured workers has improved slightly and that a high rate of doctors who treat...
