Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
DIR: California Independent Medical Review Shows Improvements
Dec 5 2016 // A California Department of Industrial Relations progress report shows continuing improvement of the state’s Independent Medical Review process. IMR is the medical dispute resolution process that uses medical...
Washington Workers’ Comp Rates for 2017 to Increase Less Than 1%
Nov 30 2016 // The average premium for workers’ compensation coverage in Washington will go up less than 1 percent in 2017, according to the Department of Labor & Industries. LL&I announced today the rate will rise by an...
Court: Workers’ Comp Medical Exam not False Imprisonment in Michigan
Nov 30 2016 // A medical appointment that lasts hours might be an annoyance, but it’s not false imprisonment in Michigan. A federal appeals court last week ruled in favor of an insurance company in a dispute over an exam for a man...
Report: California Workers’ Comp Reforms Saving $1.3B Annually
Nov 30 2016 // A look back at the performance of a law reforming California’s worker’s compensation system that took effect in 2013 shows more than $1 billion in savings has been created. The Workers’ Compensation...
National Study Finds Pennsylvania Improved in State Workers’ Comp Costs
Nov 30 2016 // A national study conducted by The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services shows Pennsylvania has improved its standing among states under Governor Tom Wolf’s administration in workers’ compensation...
NFL Players with CTE Sue to Force Teams to Pay Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Nov 30 2016 // A group of 38 former National Football League players have sued to force the NFL to pay them workers’ compensation benefits for the chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) they say they developed as a result of head...
Brentwood Services Administrators Hires Greene as Senior Claim Representative in Georgia
Nov 30 2016 // Brentwood Services Administrators Inc. has hired Stephanie Greene as a senior claim representative in the DeKalb County office in Stone Mountain, Ga., according to Jeff Pettus, president and chief executive officer of...
Florida Appeals Judge’s Order Halting 14.5% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase
Nov 29 2016 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) is appealing a court order invalidating its approved 14.5 rate increase on Florida workers’ compensation rates that was set to take effect Dec. 1. OIR filed its Notice...
Kentucky Judge Allows Bevin to Appoint Workers’ Comp Judges
Nov 28 2016 // A Kentucky judge has cleared the way for Republican Gov. Matt Bevin to appoint six administrative law judges to help ease a backlog of workers’ compensation cases. The ruling by Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip...
Judge Halts Florida’s 14.5% Workers’ Compensation Hike Set for Dec. 1
Nov 27 2016 // A Florida circuit judge has blocked a 14.5 percent workers’ compensation rate increase due to go into effect Dec. 1 after finding that the insurers’ rating organization and state officials did not comply with...
Louisiana Contractor Fined More than $152K for Federal Safety Violations
Nov 23 2016 // A construction contractor in Louisiana has been cited and fined over what federal safety officials say are hazardous workplace conditions. Proposed penalties total $152,147. Don M. Barron Contractor Inc. in Baton Rouge was...
Dollar General Again Charged with Safety Violations in Ohio
Nov 22 2016 // Federal safety inspectors say they have once again found one of the nation’s largest discount retailers putting workers and customers alike in danger by allowing emergency exit routes to be blocked. U.S. Department...
Pinnacol in Colorado to Drop Workers’ Comp Rates in 2017
Nov 21 2016 // Pinnacol Assurance’s board of directors has approved a 2017 decrease in workers’ compensation rates that will average 3.2 percent for the insurer’s Colorado policyholders. The decrease surpasses the...
Safety Violations at Ohio Glass Facility Rack Up $227K in Fines
Nov 21 2016 // Workers began making multiple complaints of unsafe working conditions at the Fuyao Glass America Inc. facility in Moraine, Ohio, not long after it opened in October 2015, leading to eight separate federal inspections and...
Will Legal Weed in California Increase Demand for It from Injured Workers?
Nov 21 2016 // Just how legalized weed in California will impact workers’ compensation is still uncertain, but what is certain is that the insurance industry can soon expect to be grappling with issues around paying for marijuana...
2 Former Postal Employees Convicted in Dallas for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Nov 17 2016 // Two former U.S. Postal Service employees have been convicted on felony charges related to a workers’ compensation fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas announced. McArthur Baker,...
DIR: California Independent Medical Review Shows Improvements
Nov 16 2016 // A California Department of Industrial Relations progress report shows continuing improvement of the state’s Independent Medical Review process. IMR is the medical dispute resolution process that uses medical...
Texas Workers’ Comp Division: State’s Rates Among Nation’s Lowest
Nov 15 2016 // Texas has some of the nation’s most affordable workers’ compensation coverage, according to a 2016 study, which found that the Lone Star State had the 10th lowest rates among all states, the Texas Division of...
Affordable Care Act Does Not Crowd Out Workers’ Compensation Claimants: NCCI Research
Nov 15 2016 // New industry research has found that while the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has dramatically increased the number of people who are medically insured, it has not hurt access to medical care for...
Nebraska Grain Facility Fined Nearly $527K over Worker’s Death
Nov 15 2016 // Federal safety regulators have proposed nearly $527,000 in penalties against the operators of a northeast Nebraska grain facility where a worker was fatally injured. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said...
