Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Illinois Workers’ Comp Commissioner and Chief Legal Counsel to Retire
Feb 24 2010 // Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Paul Rink and Chief Legal Counsel Kathryn Kelley are retiring, effective Feb. 26, the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission reported. Commissioner Rink...
New York State Insurance Fund Anti-Fraud Program Netted 154 Arrests
Feb 23 2010 // The New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) says its program targeting workers’ compensation insurance fraud resulted in 154 arrests and $16.6 million in recoveries and estimated savings last year. NYSIF is the Empire...
Zenith Merger Will Make Fairfax 7th Largest Workers’ Comp Writer in Calif.
Feb 19 2010 // Following Zenith National Insurance Corp.’s sell the company to Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., Toronto-based Fairfax will be the seventh-largest workers’ compensation insurer in the state, on a pro forma...
South Carolina Court: Worker Hurt at Job Housing Covered by Insurance
Feb 18 2010 // A seasonal worker is entitled to workers compensation benefits for an injury sustained after falling at a housing complex supplied by his employer, the South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled. The court sided with the...
Workers’ Comp Reform Measures Advance in Oklahoma House
Feb 18 2010 // Oklahoma State Representative Dan Sullivan wants employers “to know that we’re open for business in Oklahoma.” Sullivan, a driving force behind Oklahoma workers’ compensation reform in the...
Proposal for Missouri Injured Worker Fund May Mean Higher Premiums
Feb 17 2010 // A Missouri House of Representatives committee is considering legislation designed to stabilize a financially troubled state fund for injured workers by triggering higher workers’ compensation premiums for...
Worker’s Comp Company Offers $200M to Colorado
Feb 17 2010 // Colorado’s state-chartered worker compensation insurer has offered the state $200 million for greater autonomy. In exchange, Pinnacol Assurance would remain the state’s workers’ compensation insurer of...
Workers’ Comp Bills Move Out of Oklahoma Senate Committee
Feb 17 2010 // Two measures aimed at reforming Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system have passed out of the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee. Both bills were authored by Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee. The...
IRS, States Target Employers’ Use of Independent Contractors
Feb 16 2010 // The Internal Revenue Service and 37 states are cracking down on companies that try to trim payroll costs by illegally classifying workers as independent contractors, rather than as full employees, The Associated Press has...
Middleton Appointed to Calif. Workers’ Comp Fraud Assessment Commission
Feb 16 2010 // California State Compensation Insurance Fund has announced that Lisa Middleton, senior vice president of internal affairs, was elected chair of the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Assessment Commission. Middleton brings...
Nebraska Emergency Workers Plead for More Workers’ Comp Coverage
Feb 11 2010 // During a recent legislative hearing in Nebraska, emergency workers from across the state recalled traumatizing accident scenes when asking for a new level of workers’ compensation coverage. The emergency personnel...
Brownyard Group Adds Workers’ Comp to Foundation Program
Feb 11 2010 // The Brownyard Group added workers’ compensation coverage for its cosmetic manufacturers and distributors program, called Foundation. The workers’ compensation coverage is written through an A.M. Best...
New Jersey Court: Coffee Break-Injury Gets Full Disability
Feb 7 2010 // A New Jersey plumber who was severely injured while driving to a coffee break can collect full workers’ compensation benefits, a Superior Court has ruled. The decision centers on injuries suffered by Jesse J. Cooper...
Declarations
Feb 7 2010 // More Straight-Line Winds Ahead “Based on what we know about the potential patterns of climate change, we expect severe storm activity to increase in Texas and the Midwest, including higher activity of straight-line...
2010 Will Challenge Calif. Insurance Agents, But Bright Spots Ahead
Feb 7 2010 // In 2009, independent insurance agents and brokers faced a “perfect storm” with the economic downturn, premiums at a fraction of what they used to be, and unemployment and home foreclosure rates up. But 2010 may...
It Figures
Feb 7 2010 // $1.5 Billion Projected budget deficit Colorado lawmakers are grappling with, as they evaluate proposals to slash spending for public education, higher education, Medicaid and other programs. Among the proposals being...
Older Employees Lower Indemnity Costs for Workers’ Compensation
Feb 7 2010 // Workers 65 years old and older tend to have lower indemnity costs for workers’ compensation than do younger workers, largely because of their lower weekly wages. That information from a new industry study could be...
Philadelphia Man Helped Stage Robbery to Collect Workers’ Comp
Feb 5 2010 // A Philadelphia man who staged a fake robbery and shot his own cousin as part of an elaborate conspiracy to help the cousin collect workers’ compensation insurance has pleaded guilty in Maryland to a single count of...
Workers’ Compensation Patients Benefit Less from Back Surgery
Feb 4 2010 // Surgery provides better results than nonsurgical treatment for most patients with back pain related to a herniated disk—but not for those receiving workers’ compensation for work-related injuries, according to...
Washington Man Pleads Guilty to Workers’ Comp Fraud
Feb 4 2010 // A Ritzville, Wash., man has pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property in connection with illegally collecting workers’ compensation benefits while collecting wages from a nursing home managed by his...