Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
How AI Advances ‘No-Touch’ Resolution of Workers Compensation Claims: Opinion
Aug 8 2019 // Many human hours are needed to sort, analyze and process workers compensation claims—the vast majority of which are low in value. The U.S. workers comp insurance market is forecast to earn revenues of $55 billion in...
California Insurance Commissioner’s Applied Underwriters Decision Challenged over Campaign Contributions
Aug 7 2019 // A pair of companies has filed to overturn decisions by California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara in cases involving workers’ comp provider Applied Underwriters, alleging the decisions by Lara were swayed by...
California Workers’ Comp Committee Votes for Drop in 2020 Pure Premium Filing
Aug 7 2019 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California’s governing committee voted on Wednesday to authorize the WCIRB to submit a Jan. 1, 2020 advisory pure premium rate filing to the California...
Connecticut Worker Charged with Workers’ Compensation Fraud, Larceny
Aug 6 2019 // A Connecticut Department of Developmental Services (DDS) employee was has been arrested and charged with fraudulently collecting more than $4,000 in workers’ compensation benefits. Elizabeth Torres, age 58, of...
Starr Insurance Companies Extends Defense Base Act Coverage to Small Contractors
Aug 2 2019 // Starr Wright Insurance Agency, Inc. (Starr Wright USA), a division of Starr Insurance Companies, has a launched a distribution channel for Starr Insurance Companies’ Defense Base Act insurance coverage, specifically...
Fewer Injured Workers Receiving Opioids Under Workers’ Compensation But States Vary
Aug 2 2019 // Fewer injured workers are receiving opioids to treat pain than in previous years, as medical providers are turning more to non-opioid medications and physical therapies. A new study of injured worker claims from 27 states...
Report: Written Worker’s Comp Premium in California to Fall by $1B in 2019
Jul 31 2019 // Expect workers’ compensation insurance rates in California to continue to fall, with total written premium expected to drop by $1 billion or more for 2019 despite the positive impacts of continued economic growth, a...
Company Faces $724K in Federal Fines for Hazards at Ohio Plant
Jul 31 2019 // An automotive glass manufacturer has been cited by federal workplace safety officials for exposing employees to multiple safety and health hazards at its production plant in Moraine, Ohio. Fuyao Glass America Inc. faces...
California Self-Insurers Board Greenlights Workers’ Comp Alternative Security Program
Jul 30 2019 // The board of the California Self-Insurers’ Security Fund has approved the 2019/20 Alternative Security Program. The ASP provides a financial backstop to replace security deposits required to collateralize...
OSHA Fines Virginia Shipbuilder More Than $13K for Safety Violation
Jul 26 2019 // The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Newport News Shipbuilding more than $13,000 for a safety violation after investigating the death of an employee. However, the violation was unrelated to the...
Louisiana Workers’ Comp Carrier, LWCC, Adds Irby, Promotes Sanders
Jul 25 2019 // Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based workers’ compensation provider, LWCC, has hired Seth Irby as chief marketing and customer experience officer, and promoted Gary Sanders to vice president. Irby brings to LWCC a variety of...
U.S. Appeals Court: Ohio Work Comp Solicitation Ban at Odds with Free Speech Law
Jul 25 2019 // In siding with a law firm in a case involving access to workers’ compensation claimant information and the use of that information for solicitation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has declared...
Pets Account for Nearly 400 Workers’ Comp Claims A Year in Oregon
Jul 25 2019 // Slip and falls, flying tools, poor posture. The workplace can be dangerous, and now you can add pets to the risks that Oregon workers face. Dogs and cats have accounted for more than 1,900 claims since 2014 received by...
Missouri Contractor Faces $212K in Penalties Over Trench Hazards
Jul 24 2019 // Federal workplace safety officials have cited a Missouri contractor for exposing employees to trench engulfment hazards and imposed more than $212,000 in penalties. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety...
Oklahoma Manufacturer Cited, Fined $187K for Serious Workplace Hazards
Jul 24 2019 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited HE&M Inc., a Pryor, Oklahoma-based metalworking band saw manufacturer, for exposing employees to fall, machine...
California Financial Advisor Sentenced to 10 Years for Embezzling $1M
Jul 24 2019 // California financial advisor Tom Fallon, 65, has been sentenced in Long Beach Superior Court after being convicted in an open plea of 25 criminal counts of money laundering and grand theft. Fallon was sentenced to 10 years...
With Commissioner’s OK, Wisconsin Workers’ Comp Rates to Fall by 8.8%
Jul 23 2019 // Wisconsin’s chief insurance regulator has approved an overall 8.84% decrease in workers’ compensation premium rates. The new rates approved by Commissioner of Insurance Mark Afable are effective Oct. 1, 2019,...
Washington Woman Charged with Running Construction Business While on Disability
Jul 23 2019 // A Spokane, Wash.-area woman faces a felony theft charge for allegedly running a construction business while claiming she was too disabled to work. Deborah J. Steeneck, 59, is accused of stealing more than $11,000 in...
Pennsylvania Resort Employee Injured in Bear Attack During ‘Safari Tour’
Jul 23 2019 // Officials say a worker at a western Pennsylvania resort was injured in a bear attack while guiding a routine “Safari Tour” of wildlife kept at the property. Nemacolin Woodlands Resort says the Himalayan bear...
Sage Program Underwriters Offers Workers’ Comp for Shooting Sports Industry
Jul 23 2019 // Sage Program Underwriters has launched a new national workers’ compensation program for the shooting sports industry. The exclusive program targets all aspects of the industry including: Indoor & outdoor...
