- Calif. limits workers comp claims by out-of-state professional athletesCalifornia Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill into law that will limit workers compensation claims in California filed by out-of-state professional athletes.
- Average weekly wages can include corporate profits for comp calculationCorporate profits due to an injured worker as a shareholder in his company can be used to calculate his average weekly wages for workers compensation benefits, a Florida appellate court has ruled.
- Why Does Chronic Pain Hurt Some People More?Researchers are studying the human brain, trying to discover why some people will suffer from chronic pain while others suffering similar injuries won’t, according to this Wall Street Journal article.
- Supreme Court will not hear Hutterite workers comp caseThe U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a religious colony’s argument that Montana is forcing it to participate in the state’s workers compensation system despite religious objections to doing so.
- Medicare Secondary Payer compliance affected by government shutdownThe federal government shutdown has blocked some portions of Medicare Secondary Payer compliance from being conducted, according to Roy Franco, principal of Medicare compliance firm Franco Signor L.L.C.
- SMART Act interim rules spark criticismAs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services prepares rules on Medicare Secondary Payer compliance, sources say CMS isn’t working quickly enough to implement changes to ease workers compensation and liability claim settlements.
- Texas cuts prescribing of drugs with closed formulary mandateThe success in Texas of mandating a closed formulary that has sharply reduced prescribing drugs considered inappropriate to treat workers compensation claimants is attracting the attention of other states.
- Effect of Calif. workers comp reform on rates remains unclearDANA POINT, Calif.
- Health care reform law may be boosting Calif. workers comp claimsDANA POINT, Calif. — The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may be pushing up claims frequency by driving increased part-time employee hiring, speakers said during a California workers compensation conference.