- OFF BEAT: Postal worker likely to get workout from court over disability claimsA 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 workersWhite, 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 ratesNCCI 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 absencesThis 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 outbreakWorkers 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 meningitisFlorida 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 networkThe California Supreme Court is set to review an appellate court ruling in Elayne Valdez v.
- Alaska tops rankings of state workers compensation rates: StudyEmployers 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: KBWCommercial 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 outbreakA 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: WCRIWorkers 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: CDCSeveral 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 filingAetna 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 issuesThe 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 costsINDIANAPOLIS — 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 1,600INDIANAPOLIS — 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 claimsA 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 rateNCCI 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 MassachusettsA 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: PanelINDIANAPOLIS — 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: WCRIFew 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 vetoedCalifornia 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 settlementA 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 programsLarge 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 IndianaThe 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: CourtViolating 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: CourtManaged 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 filingCalifornia’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 caseAn 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 prescriptionsAn 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.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Workers compensation pioneer Dr. Gary Franklin sounds opioid alarmYears before risk managers learned that opioid prescriptions would become a workers compensation liability, Dr. Gary Franklin was reviewing death certificates to document that large doses of the narcotics were killing injured workers.
- Insurers unconvinced that Calif. law reforms will reduce workers comp costsDANA POINT, Calif. — While recent workers compensation reforms in California aim to reduce costs for employers, insurers and claims handlers say they’re concerned the new law won’t do much to ease rising expenses.
- Conference draws 850 to Dana PointDANA POINT, Calif. — The California Workers Compensation & Risk Conference, held Sept. 19-21 in Dana Point, Calif., drew more than 850 attendees from California and around the country.
- California workers compensation reforms will cut costs by $300M annually: FitchCalifornia’s latest workers compensation reforms are expected to cut the state’s comp costs by about $300 million, or 1.4%, annually, Fitch Ratings Ltd. said Thursday.
- Medicare set-asides getting faster approvals with new contractorsDANA POINT, Calif.
- California’s workers comp reforms may not reduce system costs for payers: PanelDANA POINT, Calif. — A panel of insurers and workers compensation claims handlers said Wednesday that they don’t expect California’s recent workers comp reforms to reduce system costs for payers in the state.