Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Workers’ Comp Institute Summarizes 2019 Legislation
Oct 21 2019 // Among the 870 bills that California Gov. Gavin Newsom acted upon for 2019 that were passed by the state Legislature, there were about 20 that may hold interest for the workers’ compensation community. The California...
California Balks at Applied Underwriters Sale, Questions Subsidiary’s Move to New Mexico
Oct 21 2019 // The California Department of Insurance has denied an application for approval of the sale of California Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Applied Underwriters that was sold in a massive deal that has been under scrutiny over...
States Vary Widely in How They Control Workers’ Comp Medical Costs: WCRI
Oct 21 2019 // Workers’ compensation medical costs vary widely among the states both in terms of price and how often services are used. The differences appear to relate closely to which cost-drivers each state legislature tried to...
Louisiana Court: Unconfirmed Drug Test Can’t Be Used to Deny Workers’ Comp Claim
Oct 21 2019 // Louisiana’s high court has nixed the idea that an unconfirmed or unverified drug test can be used to prove intoxication or fraud in order to deny the workers’ compensation claim of an injured worker. In doing...
Medical Provider Fraud: The Most Common Schemes to Watch For
Oct 21 2019 // While most insurance claims are legitimate, studies indicate that 10% or more of all property/casualty insurance claims are fraudulent. In the workers’ compensation industry, combatting fraud can seem like a game of...
California Workers’ Comp Bureau Releases Cost Monitoring Update on Reforms
Oct 21 2019 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California in mid-October issued a prospective estimate of the cost impact of Senate Bill 863, the sweeping workers’ comp reform bill signed into law in...
Unconfirmed Drug Test Can’t Be Used to Deny Workers’ Comp Claim: Louisiana Court
Oct 18 2019 // Louisiana’s high court recently nixed the idea that an unconfirmed or unverified drug test can be used to prove intoxication or fraud in order to deny the workers’ compensation claim of an injured worker. In...
Applied Underwriters Sold to Founder in $920M Deal
Oct 16 2019 // Applied Underwriters Inc. and its subsidiary North American Casualty Co. has reportedly been acquired by Applied Underwriters founder Steve Menzies, who was joined in the acquisition by the Quasha Group led by Quadrant...
Arkansas Insurance Dept. Unit Honored for Work Comp Pharmacy Benefits Program
Oct 15 2019 // The State Risk Manager Association recently named the Arkansas Insurance Department’s Public Employee Claims Division (PECD) as the recipient of the 2019 AFIRM Award for its state employee workers’ compensation...
Texas Company Faces $301K in Fines After Employee Fatality
Oct 15 2019 // A Texas company has been cited for workplace safety hazards and fined more than $301,000 after an employee fatality at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in April 2019. The U.S. Department of Labor’s...
California Workers’ Compensation Bureau Testifies on 2020 Advisory Rate Drop
Oct 15 2019 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California on Monday presented the actuarial basis for an average proposed Jan. 1, 2020 advisory pure premium rate of $1.58, which is 5.4 percent less than the...
Workers’ Compensation Rates in Delaware Decrease for Third Year in a Row
Oct 15 2019 // Delaware is set to see a decrease in workers’ compensation insurance rates for the third year in a row, effective December 1, 2019. “I am delighted to approve a decrease in workers’ compensation rates in...
Oregon 2020 Workers’ Compensation Premium Assessment Rates Dropping
Oct 11 2019 // The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services announced an 8.4% average reduction in pure premium rates for employers in 2020. The department each year adopts by rule the workers’ comp premium assessment...
California Workers’ Comp Bureau Releases Cost Monitoring Update on Reforms
Oct 11 2019 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California this week issued a prospective estimate of the cost impact of Senate Bill 863, the sweeping workers’ comp reform bill signed into law in 2012. SB...
Ohio Foundry Facing $270K in Penalties for Serious Workplace Health Violations
Oct 10 2019 // Federal officials have cited an Ohio foundry with three repeated and 18 serious health violations for exposing employees to crystalline silica above the permissible exposure levels. As a result, Liberty Casting Company in...
Massachusetts Cleaning Company Owner Sentenced for $74K Insurance Fraud
Oct 10 2019 // The owner of a Malden, Mass.-based cleaning company pleaded guilty and was sentenced to jail in connection with an insurance fraud scheme that involved worker misclassification, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey...
Missouri Food Flavoring Manufacturer Faces $223.5K in Penalties Over Worker Fatality
Oct 9 2019 // A Missouri-based food flavoring manufacturer is facing $223,525 in penalties after being cited by federal officials for workplace safety violations following the death of a worker at the company’s facility. The U.S....
Texas Man Convicted of $6K Workers’ Compensation Fraud
Oct 9 2019 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported that a Travis County district court has sentenced Joe D. Lozano, Sr. of Midland, Texas, on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Lozano reported a job-related injury while...
Salus Workers’ Compensation Acquires Omaha’s Method Insurance Services
Oct 8 2019 // Salus Workers’ Compensation LLC (Salus), a managing general agent (MGA) and third-party administrator (TPA), has completed its acquisition of Method LLC d/b/a Method Insurance Services (Method), a full-service...
Louisiana Workers’ Comp Corp. to Return $136M to Policyholders in October
Oct 8 2019 // Louisiana’s largest workers’ compensation insurance carrier, Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation (LWCC), is issuing $136 million in dividend checks to policyholders during October. LWCC is a single...
