Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
News Currents
Oct 9 2006 // Workers’ comp claim frequency and size continue downward trend A recent study based on data collected through 2004 shows that workers’ compensation claims frequency is down—yet costs continue to rise. The...
Texas work comp reform: a lot done, more to go
Oct 9 2006 // Speaker after speaker at the Sept. 20 workers’ compensation conference held by the Insurance Council of Texas recognized that while reform of Texas’ workers’ compensation system has come a long way, there...
Workers’ comp claim frequency and size continue downward trend
Oct 9 2006 // A recent study based on data collected through 2004 shows that workers’ compensation claims frequency is down — yet costs continue to rise. The lowered frequency of claims includes large claims and small claims...
News Currents
Oct 9 2006 // Alaska workers’ comp reforms helping to lower rates Alaska Gov. Frank H. Murkowski has announced he is pleased that workers’ compensation system reforms proposed by the administration and enacted last year by...
California governor vetoes workers’ compensation bills
Oct 9 2006 // Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed two bills that he said would have undermined the bipartisan workers’ compensation reforms passed by the legislature in 2004. “When I ran for office, skyrocketing...
Court rules hurt prison guard not entitledto workers’ comp
Oct 9 2006 // A California correctional officer who was hurt while helping at an accident while on his way to work is not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, the Third Appellate District Court of Appeal has ruled. The...
Oregon employers to pay less for workers’ compensation in 2007
Oct 9 2006 // Oregon will reduce the workers’ compensation pure premium rate by 2.1 percent for 2007, maintaining Oregon’s streak of not raising the rate in 16 years, Gov. Ted Kulongoski recently announced. “No other...
California anticipates lowering workers’ compensation insurance rates 6.3 percent
Oct 9 2006 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced on Sept. 28 that he will likely recommend a further reduction in the state’s workers’ compensation insurance rates of at least an additional 6.3...
Report calls nation’s workers’ comp programs ‘colossal failure’
Oct 9 2006 // A new report released by consumer rights group Center for Justice & Democracy (CJ&D), is criticizing workers’ compensation programs throughout the country, saying they have been devastating for injured...
Cal/OSHA Cites California Ski Resort Following Patrolmen Deaths
Oct 7 2006 // The California Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), cited Mammoth Mountain Ski Area $49,865 following an investigation into the accidental deaths of three of...
Ohio Agencies Owe Workers’ Comp Fund $46 Million, Director Says
Oct 5 2006 // Ohio agencies owe the state insurance fund for injured workers $46 million in medical management fees that the agencies weren’t charged for over several years, according to the fund’s director. William Mabe,...
The Hartford, First Health Group Workers’ Comp Network Approved in Texas
Oct 5 2006 // The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. reported it has gained certification to offer its workers’ compensation clients in the Houston area access to The Hartford Workers’ Compensation Health Care...
Specialty Risk Services Workers’ Comp Network Certified for Texas
Oct 4 2006 // Specialty Risk Services, LLC (SRS) announced the certification of its Texas Workers’ Compensation Health Care Network by the Texas Department of Insurance. The company will begin offering the new network to all...
Utah Workers’ Comp Fund Evaluates Worker Elegibility
Oct 4 2006 // Utah’s Workers Compensation Fund recently came under fire for propsing workers’ eligibility to benefits be evaluated. Based on its proposal, some in the mainstream media interpreted WCF’s actions as...
OSHA Seeking $84K Fine in Pa. Workplace Elevator Death
Oct 3 2006 // A contractor faces $63,000 in federal workplace safety fines for an accident in which a subcontractor’s employee was decapitated by an elevator. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed the...
Masonry Firm Faces OSHA Fines in Deadly Mass. Scaffolding Collapse
Oct 3 2006 // A masonry contractor faces $119,000 in fines for alleged safety violations that led to a scaffolding collapse at a downtown construction site that killed three last spring, according to federal officials. The U.S....
Calif. Workers’ Comp Rating Bureau Releases Cost Monitoring Report
Oct 3 2006 // California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has released its 2006 Legislative Cost Monitoring Report. According to the report, physician fees have been reduced by about 4 percent since...
N.Y. Business Owner Caught Forging Insurance Certificate
Sep 29 2006 // A 54-year-old business owner pleaded guilty to issuing a false certificate of insurance claiming to have workers’ compensation insurance with the New York State Insurance Fund, according to the NYSIF. NYSIF said that...
Project Manager Indicted in Texas for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Sep 29 2006 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that a Travis County, Texas, grand jury indicted Higgie Highsmith of San Antonio on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Highsmith allegedly collected $7,112 in...
California Anticipates Lowering Workers’ Comp Rates
Sep 29 2006 // Califiornia Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced he will likely recommend a further reduction in workers’ compensation insurance rates of at least an additional 6.3 percent. Based on pre-reform trends, the...
