Workers Compensation Press Updates

California’s Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau on Wednesday proposed a 3.4% increase in advisory pure premium workers compensation rates for 2014.

Ameritox Ltd., a Baltimore-based pain medication monitoring company, has acquired Prium, a leading provider of medical cost management services serving the worker’s compensation market.

Employers are concerned about health and wellness issues connected with an aging workforce, but most haven’t implemented strategies to manage safety and leave for an older population.

Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc. said it will replace some of its insurance policies with paper provided by State National Insurance Co. after A.M. Best Co. downgraded Meadowbrook’s rating to B++ (stable) on Friday.

An Oregon longshoreman who drunkenly took a six-foot tumble while urinating from one of his employer’s docks cannot receive workers compensation benefits for his fall, a federal court has ruled.

Illinois said it has won its first felony conviction of an employer for failing to obtain workers compensation insurance as mandated by state law.

While gay couples rushed to wed in Minnesota, the state’s Department of Labor and Industry said Thursday that employers are now responsible for paying workers compensation benefits to legally married, surviving same-sex spouses.

An amendment to New York’s workers compensation law generated by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2013-2014 budget plan will cost insurers and self-insured employers up to $1.6 billion in unfunded liability, a lawsuit claims.

Iowa’s workers compensation commissioner is suing Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and other defendants alleging they reduced his salary because he is gay and because of political partisanship.