injured workers News

Washington Employers May See Big Drop in 2019 Workers’ Comp Rates

The price of workers’ compensation insurance in Washington could drop significantly in 2019. The Washington Department of Labor & Industries this week proposed a 5 percent decrease in the average premium employers pay for the coverage. If approved, the rate …

Oregon SAIF Declares Dividends as Workers’ Comp Costs Decrease

The board of directors of the SAIF, the not-for-profit company providing workers’ comp insurance in Oregon, declared two dividends for customers: a $120 million primary dividend to be paid to SAIF’s policyholders, and a $40 million safety performance dividend to …

Oregon Workers’ Comp Costs to Drop Sixth-Straight Year

Oregon employers next year will pay an average of $1.12 per $100 of payroll for workers’ compensation insurance, down from $1.23 in 2018, under a proposal by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. This will mark the sixth …

Acid Release at Louisiana Exxon Plant Sends 2 to Hospital

A sulfuric acid release sent two contractors at an ExxonMobil chemical plant in Louisiana to the hospital. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Greg Langley says the agency wasn’t immediately sure what caused the release Monday morning at the Baton …

Pennsylvania Governor Wolf Vetoes Workers’ Compensation Drug Formulary Bill

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has vetoed Senate Bill 936, which sought to amend the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act by establishing a formulary, or a list of prescription medications that could be prescribed to injured workers. “The formulary proposed in this …

Study: California Workers Not Weaned Off Opioids Had Much Higher Drug Costs

Injured workers who were not weaned off of opioids had much higher drug costs and higher treatment transaction volumes, according to a report released on Friday by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. The report, Study of Chronic Opioid Use …

Nevada OK’s Filings for Moderate Workers’ Comp Loss-Cost and Assigned-Risk Rate Changes

Nevada Insurance Commissioner Barbara D. Richardson approved a slight decrease in workers’ compensation voluntary insurance loss costs and average increase for assigned-risk rates. Richardson approved two filings from the National Council on Compensation Insurance this week. Compared to previous years, …

Report: Number of Qualified Medical Evaluators in California Workers’ Comp Fell

The number of qualified medical evaluators resolve disputes over California workers’ compensation claim issues fell 20 percent between January 2012 and September 2017, according to a new California Workers’ Compensation Institute study. However, the CWCI study shows that the impact …

Average Cost of Workers’ Comp in Washington Dropping in 2018

The price of workers’ compensation insurance will go down for many businesses in Washington next year. The state Department of Labor & Industries announced that the average amount employers and workers pay for the coverage will drop by 2.5 percent …

NYWCA Launches Campaign to Stop Cuts to Injured Worker Benefits

The New York Workers’ Compensation Alliance (NYWCA) has launched a campaign to fight proposed Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) regulations and impairment guidelines that it says would drastically cut compensation awards for injured workers. In the New York State budget that …