Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Indiana Bill Would Allow Employees to Select Physician in Workers’ Comp Cases
Jan 12 2024 // An Indiana lawmaker has proposed a bill that would allow employees to choose their attending physician in workers’ compensation cases. Rep. Charles Moseley, a Democrat, introduced House Bill 1246 this week, which...
Connecticut Extends PTSD Benefits to All Workers Under Workers’ Compensation
Jan 11 2024 // The new year brought with it an expansion of Connecticut’s workers’ compensation benefits with regard to post-traumatic stress injuries or disorders (PTSD). Prior to January 1, only first responders were...
NCCI: Shifting Workplace, Costs Are Top Concerns for Workers’ Comp Execs
Jan 10 2024 // A new survey finds ratings data, changes in the workplace and workforce, medical inflation and economic uncertainty are top of mind concerns for workers’ compensation insurance executives. The National Council on...
Iowa Supreme Court Upholds Decision to Bar Late Expert Reports in Workers’ Comp Case
Jan 8 2024 // The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday reinstated a deputy workers’ compensation commissioner’s decision to bar reports that were submitted too late by experts who weren’t certified, reversing decisions by the...
People Moves: Baum Named Chief Operating Officer of California Workers’ Comp Institute
Jan 4 2024 // The California Workers’ Compensation Institute named Gideon L. Baum chief operating officer. He will take over the role on Feb. 1. Baum most recently served as the vice president of policy at the California Hospital...
Medical Biller Charged With Stealing $1 Million in Workers’ Compensation Payments
Jan 4 2024 // New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the arrest and arraignment of a New Jersey man for allegedly stealing more than $1 million that was intended to be paid to doctors who provided medical care to injured...
‘Severe Violator’ Ohio Contractor Agrees to $730K OSHA Settlement
Jan 3 2024 // The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement to resolve litigation following a March 2022 investigation at a work site in Wheeling that resulted in a dozen citations issued against an Ohio-based...
Louisiana Workers’ Comp Rates to Fall by 9% in 2024
Jan 2 2024 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has approved a 9% reduction in workers’ compensation rates for 2024. The decrease will take effect in May 2024. Louisiana has seen workers’ compensation rates fall...
Georgia Man Charged with Depriving Liberty Mutual of $9M in Workers’ Comp Premiums
Jan 2 2024 // Georgia authorities last week announced the arrest of a contractor charged with underreporting payroll and defrauding Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. of more than $9 million in premiums. Jose Martinez, 56, of Grayson, was...
Wegman’s Has Right to Question Injured Worker’s Doctor, Rules New York’s High Court
Dec 22 2023 // Wegman’s Food Markets was wrongly denied an opportunity to cross-examine an injured employee’s doctor, the New York Court of Appeals has ruled, overturning rulings by a workers’ compensation law judge,...
California Workers’ Comp Report Shows Written Premium Nearing Pre-Pandemic Levels
Dec 21 2023 // A new report from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California shows written premium in 2022 was 14% above the previous year. The WCIRB’s Quarterly Experience Report is an update on...
New York Fund Receives $7.75 Million After Workers’ Compensation Fraud Prosecution
Dec 18 2023 // Law enforcement officials announced the final sentencing in their prosecution of an $18 million workers’ compensation fraud case and the return of $7.75 million to the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF). Manhattan...
Minnesota Construction Contractor Faces $1.8 Million in OSHA Penalties
Dec 18 2023 // Despite signing a 2021 settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor that included a promise to protect its employees from potentially deadly trenching and excavation hazards, a Minnesota construction contractor...
Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation Names Posey as Deputy Commissioner of Operations and External Relations
Dec 15 2023 // Texas Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Jeff Nelson has announced the appointment of Matthew Posey as DWC’s new Deputy Commissioner of Operations and External Relations. Posey brings his significant...
California Workers’ Comp Public Self-Insured Claim Volume, Total Paid and Incurred Losses Fall
Dec 14 2023 // Initial data on fiscal year 2022/23 public self-insured claims experience in the California workers’ compensation system show that public self-insured’s total claim volume, spurred by a sharp drop in indemnity...
Maryland’s Workers’ Compensation Bars Non-Dependent Child’s Wrongful Death Claim
Dec 12 2023 // A non-dependent adult child whose father died on the job does not have a right to bring a wrongful death claim against her late father’s employer, the Maryland Appellate Court has ruled. The appeals court affirmed a...
Florida Weekly Wage and Max Workers’ Comp Benefit See Biggest Jump Since 1980
Dec 8 2023 // The Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation has released the maximum weekly wage benefit for 2024 and it’s the largest two-year jump in wages in more than four decades. Florida law sets the maximum indemnity...
During Pandemic, Surgeries Delayed, but Care on Track for Injured Workers: WCRI
Dec 5 2023 // Injured workers got timely initial help during the COVID-19 pandemic but faced a longer wait for surgery compared to pre-pandemic years. A new Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) FlashReport examined the time...
New Hampshire Roofing Contractor Lied to Beat OSHA Penalties, Judge Says
Dec 5 2023 // A New Hampshire contractor has been accused of lying and being evasive in an attempt to avoid responsibility for safety hazards for roofers at his worksite. A federal administrative law judge has determined that Barry...
Washington Workers’ Comp Premium Rate Going up an Average of 4.9% in 2024
Dec 1 2023 // The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries announced a 4.9% increase in the average workers’ compensation premium rate for 2024. The increase, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2024, means employers and...
