Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calif. Approves Tax-Exempt Status for Private School Self-Insurer
Apr 21 2006 // The California Private Schools Workers’ Compensation Self-Insurance Group, Inc., a self-insurance group for private schools, has been granted tax-exempt status by the California Franchise Tax Board. Rather than...
Governor Claims Workers’ Comp Changes ‘Huge Success’
Apr 21 2006 // Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared the sweeping workers’ compensation changes he pushed through the Legislature two years ago a “huge success,” but critics called them a disaster for injured...
Top Execs at R.I.’s Beacon Mutual Axed; Governor Removes 2 Directors
Apr 20 2006 // Making good on his warning, Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri officially acted to remove two directors from the board of directors of the Beacon Mutual Insurance Company after the steps taken by management fell...
Mo. Department Files Complaint Against Producer Who Allegedly Pocketed $16,000 in Client Funds
Apr 18 2006 // The Missouri Department of Insurance is seeking discipline against an insurance producer accused of allegedly issuing phony insurance policies. The agent, Michael Spillman of Lake Ozark, was to secure insurance coverage...
W.Va.’s Reversal of Workers’ Comp Policy Could Increase Rates
Apr 17 2006 // The sole workers’ compensation insurer in West Virginia says it will seek a rate increase as a result of Gov. Joe Manchin’s reversal of a state policy that limited benefits to widows and widowers of people who...
Director Kitzman encourages S.C. competition; expected policy cutbacks never occurred
Apr 17 2006 // What has happened with auto insurance rates in South Carolina should be the ‘gold standard’ for what can be accomplished with other types of insurance,” Elanor Kitzman, South Carolina Director of...
People
Apr 17 2006 // Atlanta, Ga.-based BrightServ has appointed Michael Frank senior vice president, Insurance Services. His responsibilities include overseeing client requirements, managing client contractor programs and BrightServ processes...
News Currents
Apr 17 2006 // AG McMaster appeals to S.C. Big ‘I’ members to help fight fraud Law enforcement has its hands full, AG asks agents to help provide evidence An appeal for independent insurance agencies to help law enforcement...
Tom Gallagher, Florida CFO
Apr 17 2006 // Arrests, along with laws passed in 2003 that created tougher penalties for workers’ compensation fraud, have pushed workers’ compensation premiums down for three consecutive years. Florida Fraud Fla. pursues...
News Currents
Apr 17 2006 // The Hartford teams with Blue Cross of California affiliate The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., a workers’ compensation insurance provider, will team up with BC Life & Health Insurance Co., an affiliate...
Closer Look: Insurance Associations
Apr 17 2006 // Editor’s note: This is the second article in a series on Western insurance associations. Part I of this article appeared in the April 3, 2006, western region publication beginning on page 47. As people migrate to the...
Labor says workers’ comp reform doesn’t work for permanently disabled
Apr 17 2006 // News Currents California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t be making major workers’ compensation movements this year regarding permanent disability, according to an industry lobbyist....
Former Calif. life insurance agent convicted for faulty notes
Apr 17 2006 // Fraud Roundup California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced the conviction of former life insurance agent Bassem Btadini, 51, also known as Bob Btadini. Btadini entered a no contest plea and was convicted of...
Beacon Mutual CEO, Underwriting VP Suspended Following Audit
Apr 16 2006 // The board of directors at Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. suspended two executives with pay Friday following an audit report alleging that Beacon, the state’s dominant worker’s compensation insurance provider,...
Professional Football Player Indicted in Texas for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Apr 14 2006 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that the Lubbock County grand jury indicted Shaheed Richardson on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Richardson allegedly collected $1,534 in workers’...
Work Comp Groups Select Texas Mutual’s Health Care Network Option
Apr 14 2006 // Dallas-based Hotchkiss Insurance Agency Inc. (HIA) announced that Texas Home Builders (THB) Workers’ Compensation Purchasing Group and Texas Green Industry (TGI) Workers’ Compensation Purchasing Group members...
Hawaii Workers’ Compensation Claims Often Involve Lost Time
Apr 14 2006 // The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute recently studied Hawaii’s workers’ comp system and found a strikingly high proportion of claims that involved lost time. However, the insititute also...
R.I.’s Beacon Mutual Hit for Cozy Culture Favoring Insiders, Big Accounts and Elite Agents
Apr 13 2006 // Rhode Island’s largest workers compensation carrier, Beacon Mutual Insurance Co., has engaged in a pattern of favoritism benefiting select clients and agents; won and retained employer accounts by cheating on pricing...
Mass. Considers State OSHA
Apr 13 2006 // Concerned that the current system to regulate safety at construction sites puts too much responsibility on the federal government, Massachusetts lawmakers are considering developing a plan that would transfer more power to...
Univ. of Central Okla. Insurance Coordinator Charged with Comp Fraud
Apr 12 2006 // The University of Central Oklahoma’s (UCO) Risk and Insurance Coordinator was charged in Oklahoma County District Court with five felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud, the state attorney general’s...
