Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oklahoma Commissioner Calls for Workers’ Comp Reform
Oct 9 2012 // Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak says it’s time for the Legislature to address Oklahoma’s biggest economic issue: workers’ compensation reform. “Workers’ compensation costs are...
U.S. Insurers Say Fraud Costs on the Rise: Survey
Oct 9 2012 // Forty-five percent of insurers estimated that insurance fraud costs represent 5-10 percent of their claims volume, while 32 percent said the ratio is as high as 20 percent. This is according to a survey of U.S. insurers...
North Dakota Workers’ Compensation Agency Seeks Directors
Oct 8 2012 // North Dakota’s workers’ compensation agency is looking for new members for its board of directors. The terms of six of the 11 directors are ending in December. The board oversees the operation of North...
N.Y. Court: WC Insurer Can Get Credit Against Rape Victim’s Settlement
Oct 8 2012 // A New York court recently ruled that a workers’ comp insurer can take a credit against its claimant’s third-party civil settlement money. The case involves Beth V., who was employed at a juvenile detention...
ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems Fined $172K for Hazards at Texas Site
Oct 8 2012 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems Inc. with 28 serious safety violations at its Fort Worth, Texas, work site for exposing workers to...
Mass. Court Rules on CGL Independent Contractor Exclusion
Oct 8 2012 // A Massachusetts court recently ruled in favor of insurer Lloyd’s in a dispute over a commercial property and general liability policy excluding coverage for independent contractors. The insured, a property...
KBW: ‘No Acceleration of Rates’ Into Traditional Hard Market
Oct 8 2012 // Analysts at investment research firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods recently published a note recapping KBW’s annual insurance conference, held last month in New York. Analysts observed that while the general tone of...
Calif. Workers’ Comp Reform Law at ‘Halftime’
Oct 8 2012 // Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles to look at California’s workers’ compensation reform law in detail and what must be done to implement that law by Jan. 1, 2013. More articles in...
Calling Workers’ Comp Experts
Oct 8 2012 // Workers’ compensation reform has arrived — or is arriving to be more accurate — in California. When Gov. Jerry Brown last month signed Senate Bill 863, which is designed to increase disability benefits for...
Report: Calif. Workers’ Comp Impacted by Recession, Reform, Medical
Oct 7 2012 // A report out Friday by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute rates California’s workers’ comp system against 15 other states, and the report details several key improvements to the system that...
Calif. State Fund Board: Drop Rates 7%
Oct 5 2012 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund’s board voted on Friday for a 7 percent decrease in its 2013 rates, a move that reflects State Fund’s anticipated savings from a workers’ compensation...
Virginia Regulators Set Hearing on WC Premium Level Adjustments
Oct 5 2012 // The Virginia State Corporation Commission has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 16 to consider a request filed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. to adjust the premium levels charged for workers’ comp...
WC Billing Company to Pay $1M for Alleged Overcharges in Massachusetts
Oct 5 2012 // A workers’ comp pharmacy billing company has agreed to pay restitution after allegedly overcharging Massachusetts and a number of cities and towns within the state for prescription drugs through the workers’...
Father and Daughter in Central Calif. Workers’ Comp. Fraud Must Repay Over $600K
Oct 5 2012 // Jerry Buffington, 69, and Cynthia Russell, 47, have pled guilty in Kern County Superior Court to one count each of workers’ compensation insurance premium fraud and eight counts each of tax evasion and were ordered...
Calif. State Fund May Recommend Workers’ Comp Rate Drop in Days
Oct 4 2012 // Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles to look at California’s workers’ compensation reform law in detail and what must be done to implement that law by Jan. 1, 2013. California’s...
Worksite Death Leads to $189K Fine for Texas O&G Service Company
Oct 4 2012 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Halcon Resources Corp. for two willful and seven serious safety violations following a fatality at the company’s work site...
Texas’ 99 Cent Stores Fined $121K for Safety Violations
Oct 3 2012 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Commerce, Calif.-based 99 Cent Only Stores Texas Inc. with 19 serious safety and health violations at the company’s Houston...
ICW Group Names Lysak Branch Manager for Workers’ Comp in Carolinas
Oct 3 2012 // ICW Group Insurance Companies has named Suzanne Lysak as its workers’ compensation branch manager in North Carolina and South Carolina. Lysak has 20 years of experience in the workers’ compensation insurance...
Equity Risk Partners Launches Defense, Government Contractor Practice Group
Oct 3 2012 // Equity Risk Partners, an insurance brokerage, employee benefits and risk management consulting firm, has launched a new practice group for defense, aerospace and government contractors. DefCon Risk Group will focus on...
Physicians Failing to Treat Narcotics Abuse by Injured Workers: Study
Oct 2 2012 // Nearly 1 in 12 injured workers given narcotics are still on them 3 to 6 months later as few doctors appear to be following recommended treatment guidelines to prevent abuse, according to new research. This report,...
