workers’ compensation News

Study: Formulary Could Save California Workers’ Comp $124M-$420M

Adopting a state-mandated workers’ compensation prescription drug formulary similar to systems in place in Texas and Washington could reduce California workers’ comp pharmacy payments by between $124 million and $420 million per year, a California Workers’ Compensation Institute study shows. …

Marijuana and Workers’ Compensation on Industry’s Watch List

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of articles on the the marijuana insurance industry. Upcoming stories will include reports on potential changes to federal laws, and regional reports on how medical marijuana is impacting insurance in states …

NCCI Proposes Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Decrease in Connecticut

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) recently proposed an overall average change in voluntary loss cost level of -0.6 percent in Connecticut. Key components for the proposed change include -0.4 percent for experience and trend, -0.2 percent for benefits, …

N.H. Workers’ Comp Commission Holds Its 1st Meeting

New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny last Friday chaired the first meeting of the Commission to Recommend Reforms to Reduce Workers’ Compensation Medical Costs. The commission was created by Gov. Maggie Hassan earlier this month in response to the insurance …

Police: Fired Oklahoma Man Beheads Co-Worker, Attacks Another

A man who was shot after authorities say he beheaded one woman and attacked another at an Oklahoma food processing plant from which he had just been fired has regained consciousness and was interviewed by detectives on Sept. 27. Alton …

Ohio BWC Board Approves Additional $1B Rebate to Employers

Ohio employers will receive another $1 billion rebate and workers will benefit from a major new investment in worker safety research and training, according to the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC). The BWC’s board has approved “Another Billion Back,” …

Private Sector Employment Records Set in Louisiana in August

Louisiana’s private sector employers continued adding jobs and setting state employment records in August, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in seasonally adjusted data, the Louisiana Workforce Commission announced. Total nonfarm employment grew by 30,100 from a year ago …

Maryland Officer Charged in Workers’ Comp Fraud Case

A Montgomery County, Maryland, police officer has been charged with perjury and workers’ compensation fraud. Gilbert Payne was charged Tuesday in Baltimore City Circuit Court. The 40-year-old Payne didn’t respond to a message seeking comment at his home Tuesday. Maryland’s …

Slight Decline in Work-Related Deaths in Louisiana in 2013

The number of work-related fatalities in 2013 in Louisiana declined to 114, according to a preliminary count by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) reported. The figure was …

Oklahoma Plating Company Fined $341.5K for Workplace Safety Violations

Pride Plating Inc. in Grove, Okla., was cited on Sept. 4 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for exposing workers to cancer-causing health hazards from hexavalent chromium. The company received 38 violations with proposed penalties …