Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
IVANS Index: Commercial Rates Up in Q1 Except Workers’ Compensation
Apr 6 2017 // Insurance premium renewal rate change for the majority of standard commercial lines products including auto, business owners, general liability, property and umbrella remained in positive territory for the first quarter....
Boiler Explodes at St. Louis Box Company; 3 Dead, 4 Injured
Apr 5 2017 // An explosion launched a van-sized boiler through the roof a St. Louis box company and slammed much of it down onto a laundry business across the street on April 3, killing three people and injuring four others, authorities...
Maine’s The MEMIC Group Promotes Schwartz to VP of Underwriting Compliance
Apr 5 2017 // Workers’ compensation specialist The MEMIC Group, based in Portland, Maine, has announced the promotion of Karen Schwartz to the position of vice president of underwriting compliance. She is responsible for leading...
Iowa Legislative Session: War on Workers or Tough Budget Choices?
Apr 4 2017 // With Republicans in control of state government, Iowa union leaders approached this legislative session with apprehension, but say they never envisioned lawmakers would approve such dramatic changes to laws governing...
California State Fund 2016 Report Shows 128K Policies Written
Apr 4 2017 // The California State Compensation Insurance Fund’s 2016 annual report shows a net income of $192 million in 2016. Other important highlights from the newly released report include: 128,000 policies written in...
OSHA Orders Wells Fargo to Rehire Whistleblower, Pay $5.4 Million
Apr 4 2017 // The federal government has ordered Wells Fargo to reinstate a former bank manager who lost his job after reporting suspected fraudulent behavior at the bank. The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health...
New QBE Program Targets Worker Safety in Transportation Market
Apr 4 2017 // QBE North America, an operating division of global insurer QBE Insurance Group Limited, has formed a strategic program alliance with High Point Underwriters and Midwestern Insurance Alliance to offer a national...
Pennsylvania Businesses to See Workers’ Comp Insurance Rate Cut
Apr 3 2017 // Pennsylvania businesses will see another cut in workers’ compensation insurance rates while maintaining benefit levels for injured workers, Wolf Administration cabinet secretaries for the Pennsylvania Insurance...
How to Reduce Workers’ Comp Costs in a K-12 School Climate
Apr 3 2017 // The physical and emotional well-being of employees is of vital importance to the success of K-12 schools, but the challenge of keeping school staff safe from harm is becoming more and more complex. As a result of rising...
California Workers Comp Medical Review Volume Hit a Record in 2016
Apr 3 2017 // The California workers’ compensation independent medical review process used to resolve medical disputes found that in 2016 IMR physicians once again upheld about 90 percent of utilization review (UR)...
CDI Issues Directive on New Workers’ Comp Law Pertaining to Excluded Employees
Apr 3 2017 // The California Department of Insurance has notified the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of its concern that some insurers may be in violation of Assembly Bill 2883. The law, which went into effect on...
Pinnacol Issues $50M in Workers’ Comp Dividends to Colorado Employers
Apr 3 2017 // Colorado workers’ compensation insurer Pinnacol Assurance is distributing $50 million in dividend checks to its policyholders. More than 53,000 employers throughout the state — roughly 94.2 percent of the...
Kentucky Bill Reducing Black Lung Claim Assessments Headed to Governor
Apr 2 2017 // Kentucky lawmakers completed quick work Thursday evening on a proposal championed by the Senate’s top leader to reduce the beleaguered coal industry’s costs to cover claims by workers suffering from black lung...
Maryland’s Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Reappoints 2 to Board
Mar 31 2017 // Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, a Towson, Md.-based writer of workers’ compensation insurance, has reappointed Leonard Schuler Jr. as a member to the board of directors for a term of four years,...
Insurance Trade Group: Illinois Workers’ Comp Bill Unnecessary, ‘Burdensome’
Mar 30 2017 // A national trade association representing property/casualty insurers has come out against a proposed bill in Illinois that will create what group says are “burdensome and duplicative workers’ compensation...
Texas Raises Interest, Discount Rate for Workers’ Comp
Mar 29 2017 // The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation reports that the workers’ comp discount rate and interest rate for April 1 to June 30, 2017, will be 4.50 percent. The rate is computed by...
Shell Bill Filed in Arkansas Would Allow Alternate Workers’ Comp System
Mar 29 2017 // An Arkansas state senator has filed a bill that would create an alternate system for benefits to injured workers. As yet, SB 653 by Sen. David J. Sanders contains no specifics beyond a statement of purpose, which is...
Iowa Workers’ Comp Overhaul Bill Sent to Governor
Mar 29 2017 // The Iowa Senate has approved a bill to overhaul how workers are compensated for on-the-job injuries, sending the measure to Gov. Terry Branstad. The legislation, which passed with only Republican support, reduces benefits...
Alaska Workers’ Comp Reform Has Labor, Businesses Disagreeing
Mar 29 2017 // Alaska Gov. Bill Walker is sponsoring workers’ compensation legislation aimed at making it easier to determine whether someone is an employee or an independent contractor. Walker’s bill creates a new definition...
Montana Lawmakers Table Privatization of $1.6B Workers’ Comp Fund
Mar 27 2017 // Montana lawmakers have tabled a proposal seeking to dismantle and privatize the state’s massive workers’ compensation system, saying the matter is too daunting to take up in the waning days of the legislative...
