- Court rules employer does not need to pay for employee’s gastric bypass
A woman’s gastric bypass surgery and subsequent weight loss did not constitute a change in condition that would have allowed her workers compensation claim to be reopened, and her employer shouldn’t have to pay for the procedure, the Iowa Court of…
- GALLERY: Deadly jobs
Business Insurance’s latest gallery shows the preliminary figures for fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers by industry sector in 2011, starting with the industries with the fewest fatalities.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- OFF BEAT: Postal worker likely to get workout from court over disability claims
A former postal worker has likely concluded that demonstrating the use of fitness equipment while collecting disability payments is probably not a wise move.
- Ethnic disparities found in compensation for injured construction workers
White, non-Hispanic construction workers receive larger workers compensation settlements despite sustaining equivalent or lower disabilities than their black or Hispanic counterparts, new research concludes.
- NCCI requests 7.1% increase in Connecticut’s advisory workers compensation rates
NCCI Holdings Inc. has requested a 7.1% increase in Connecticut’s advisory workers compensation rates for 2013, due largely to indemnity and medical costs that are “increasing faster than wages” in the state.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Helping employees stay at work or return to work following an illness or injury can prevent avoidable disability absences
This guidance paper from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine provides observations and recommendations on measures employers can undertake when developing a disability prevention model that emphasizes helping ill or injured…
- More information emerges on meningitis outbreak
Workers compensation adjusters and case managers are helping provide claimants with information on the meningitis outbreak.
- OFF BEAT: Hot line snafu has callers chatting about sex, not meningitis
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has either been convinced of the therapeutic properties of phone sex, or his communications office could do with a good copy editor.
- Supreme Court to review case involving reports from doctors outside of workers comp medical network
The California Supreme Court is set to review an appellate court ruling in Elayne Valdez v.
- Alaska tops rankings of state workers compensation rates: Study
Employers in Alaska, California and Connecticut faced the highest workers compensation rates for 2012, according to a biennial study produced by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.
- Commercial property/casualty prices expected to increase: KBW
Commercial property/casualty prices will continue to increase, according to a third-quarter insurer earnings preview issued Wednesday by Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc.
- Lawmakers seek more oversight of compound drugs after meningitis outbreak
A couple of U.S. lawmakers say they will introduce legislation aimed at increasing the oversight of compound pharmaceuticals, which have been linked to the deadly meningitis outbreak.
- N.Y. workers comp reforms result in increased benefits, lower drug costs: WCRI
Workers compensation reforms passed by New York in 2007 have increased benefits for injured workers while lowering prescription drug costs by up to 20%, according to the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Health care facilities that take workers comp cases linked to meningitis outbreak: CDC
Several health care facilities that treat workers compensation claimants are on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list of facilities that received a compounded medication linked to a meningitis outbreak.
- Aetna teams with Broadspire, ESIS, Gallagher Bassett to integrate claims filing
Aetna Inc. announced Monday that it has teamed up with three workers compensation third-party administrators to integrate the filing of non-occupation disability and workers comp claims.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Border Patrol shootings highlight federal workers comp issues
The killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent and the wounding of another last week in Arizona demonstrates the dangers faced by law enforcement professionals who depend on a federal workers compensation program when things go wrong.
- Employers choose higher retentions to fight rising workers comp costs
INDIANAPOLIS — Employers are choosing higher self-insured retentions to help limit rising workers compensation costs as the market continues to firm, a panel of excess workers comp insurers said last week.
- SIIA meeting draws 1,600
INDIANAPOLIS — The Self-Insurance Institute of America Inc. drew about 1,600 attendees to its 32nd annual National Educational Conference and Expo, held Oct. 1-3 in Indianapolis.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Fla. urged to reconsider prevailing-party costs statute for workers comp claims
A Florida appeals court recommended Friday that state legislators revisit a statute forcing injured employees to pay an employer’s legal expense when the employee does not prevail in litigating for workers compensation benefits in good faith.
- NCCI requests 6.1% increase in Florida workers compensation rate
NCCI Holdings Inc. says increasing workers compensation claim frequency in Florida and rising prescription drug costs are the basis for a 6.1% rate increase requested in the state for 2013.
- Workers comp pharmacy biller to restore $1M in overcharges to Massachusetts
A workers compensation pharmacy billing company agreed to pay $1 million in restitution to settle allegations it overcharged Massachusetts and nearly 80 municipalities within the state, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced Thursday.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Companies opt for higher self-insured retention levels to cut costs: Panel
INDIANAPOLIS — Many employers are selecting higher self-insured retention levels to help keep workers compensation costs down, but that option may only be available to companies with solid finances, a panel of excess workers comp insurers said.
- Few doctors follow guidelines on monitoring opioid patients: WCRI
Few doctors follow recommended medical treatment guidelines for monitoring patients to prevent opioid pain medication abuse, according to research findings released Tuesday by the Cambridge, Mass.-based Workers Compensation Research Institute.
- Calif. bill easing domestic worker qualification for workers comp vetoed
California Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation that would have made it easier for domestic workers to qualify for workers compensation benefits and made them eligible for a range of labor protections.
- Workers comp insurer can subrogate N.Y. rape victim’s civil settlement
A civil settlement received by a New York rape victim can be subrogated by the workers compensation insurer that covered her injuries, a New York appellate court ruled last week.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Employers fear wasteful coverage overlap from array of benefits programs
Large employers face substantial challenges in trying to determine whether they are paying for wasteful coverage overlaps among an array of benefit programs intended to keep employees healthy and productive, observers say.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Advisory workers comp rate increase of 5% approved for Indiana
The Indiana Department of Insurance has approved a 5% increase in advisory workers compensation rates in the state for 2013, according to the Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau.
- Immigration verification lapse doesn’t nullify workers comp protections: Court
Violating the U.S. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 by not verifying employees’ immigration status does not cause an employer to lose workers compensation law protections, a New York appeals court ruled.
- Managed care provider Concentra must provide legal defense for TPA Cambridge: Court
Managed care provider Concentra Integrated Services Inc. met its obligation to indemnify third-party administrator Cambridge Integrated Services Group Inc. a but did not meet its duty to defend the TPA, according to a U.S.
- Calif. workers comp reforms prompts change to 2013 rate filing
California’s Workers Compensation Information Rating Bureau plans to amend its 2013 rate filing to recommend no rate increase for next year in light of recent workers comp reforms passed in the state.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Same-sex partner seeks workers comp survivor benefits in Alaska case
An Alaska woman is seeking workers compensation survivor benefits based on her relationship with her same-sex partner of more than a decade who was murdered at work late last year.
- Draft model rule aims to amend state workers comp laws that address opioid prescriptions
An International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions committee posted a draft model rule Thursday for amending state workers compensation laws that address opioid pain medication prescribing.