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Average medical costs for injured Texas workers treated in the state’s workers compensation physician networks fell 6% in the past three years, while average costs for comp claimants treated outside of networks climbed 19% in that time, according…

An employee of The Kroger Co. in Texas should be allowed to proceed with a liability lawsuit against the company for a work-related injury, even though he was aware that a spilled substance at work could cause him to fall, an appeals court has ruled.

Because an employer reasonably anticipated a lawsuit might result from a workplace injury, the company’s post-accident investigation report is protected from discovery, Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Maryland’s Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund on Thursday said it is reminding the public that it will convert to Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Co. on Oct. 1 as part of its move to become a private insurer.

The number of narcotics prescriptions in workers compensation claims continues to grow as do costs for such medications, the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. said.

California workers compensation insurers increased rates about 10% on average during the first six months of 2013 compared with the second six months of 2012.

The number of “questionable” workers compensation claims is increasing despite falling claim frequency, according to a report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit alleging Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. and Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in settling workers compensation claims.

Professional and products liability insurer ProAssurance Corp. announced Tuesday that it is expanding into the workers compensation insurance market by acquiring Lancaster, Pa.-based Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.

A 104-week time limit on workers compensation temporary total disability benefits is not unconstitutional because claimants are eligible for permanent total disability payments once their TTD runs out, the Florida 1st District Court of Appeals said in a…

A severance payment issued to an injured worker who was terminated from his job cannot be used to waive his workers compensation claim, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled.

Frank X. Altiere III is president of PMA Management Corp., a Blue Bell, Pa.-based third-party administrator and unit of PMA Cos. He assumed his position in 1999. Mr.

With slips, trips and falls remaining one of the top causes of workers compensation claims, safety experts say more emphasis must be placed on the ergonomic design of workplaces if companies hope to reduce the prevalence of such injuries.

Millions of additional U.S. residents seeking medical attention under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are likely to delay treatment for workers compensation and disability insurance claimants by aggravating a nationwide doctor shortage.

A temporary staffing firm says it will pay up to $10,000 in reward money to employees reporting co-workers they suspect of committing workers compensation fraud.

Washington’s State Department of Labor & Industries on Monday proposed a 2.7% average workers compensation rate increase for 2014.

Procura Management Inc. is set to launch a workers compensation preferred provider program in Illinois, the Norristown, Pa.-based medical cost management firm said last week.

Oregon workers compensation rates will decline 7.6% on average next year due to lower medical and indemnity costs, the state Department of Consumer and Business Services says.

Some workers compensation managers may beg to differ, based on their experience handling certain worker claims, but this recent Freakonomics post “Whatever Happened to the Carpal Tunnel Epidemic?” says the epidemic is now behind us.

Workers compensation claim frequency continued declining during 2012, after the Great Recession, which may have driven a 2010 frequency spike, according to a National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. research brief released Thursday.

The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California announced Wednesday that it will propose a 6.9% advisory pure premium rate increase for Jan. 1, 2014.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requiring new product label warnings for long-acting opioid pain relievers to combat prescription narcotic misuse, addiction and overdose deaths.

The U.S. Supreme Court has been petitioned to review the case of a Texas man who sued under Medicare Secondary Payer law to recover double damages from his workers compensation insurer for two back surgeries.

Workers compensation pharmacy benefit managers PMSI Inc. and Progressive Medical Inc., announced Friday that they have entered into a definitive agreement to merge.

The International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions has released a policy recommendation guide to reduce the inappropriate use of opioid pain medications.

Oklahoma businesses will see a 14.6% cut in workers compensation loss cost rates for 2014 after state lawmakers passed legislation to create an alternative workers comp system, the Oklahoma Insurance Department says.

Former Select Staffing Inc. Vice President of Risk Management Fred O. Pachón was jailed Friday on a charge of felony grand theft for allegedly embezzling about $700,000 in workers compensation payments.

Two studies released Wednesday by the Cambridge, Mass.-based Workers Compensation Research Institute document the high cost of physician-dispensed prescriptions.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation cannot reopen a case in which an injured employee awarded lifetime income benefits, Texas’ Supreme Court has ruled.

A lump-sum payment of workers compensation death benefits awarded to a construction worker’s widow should be based on the total weekly comp benefits paid to the woman and her dependants, and not just the portion allocated to the worker’s wife, the…

The National Football League said Thursday that it will pay a $765 million settlement to more than 4,500 retired players who say they’ve suffered concussion-related brain injuries connected with their careers.

The average duration of workers compensation temporary total disability benefits has decreased in step with the declining national unemployment rate.

The widow of a New Mexico police officer who died while saving a child from drowning should receive workers compensation death benefits, the New Mexico Court of Appeals said this month, overturning a decision that said the woman’s filing was too…

Average medical payments for California workers compensation claims increased sharply between 2005 and 2011, although medical cost containment has shifted some medical payment expenditures, the California Workers’ Compensation Institute said Monday.

The Florida Department of Health is weighing whether to tighten controls on the release of information through its prescription drug monitoring program after data for more than 3,000 Floridians reportedly was provided to third parties without the…

Excess insurer Safety National Casualty Corp. must pay an employer’s defense and settlement costs even though an underlying negligence lawsuit against the policyholder was “groundless,” a federal appeals court has ruled.

ATLANTA — Early intervention for employees suffering from mental health issues can reduce worker disability durations and costs by preventing illnesses from advancing to more serious conditions, experts say.

Federal legislation introduced this summer seeks to reduce worker musculoskeletal injuries by creating a national standard for the safe lifting and moving of patients in health care facilities.

Unnecessary medical expenditures and how they affect workers compensation were a key focus of Business Insurance’s fourth annual Worker’s Compensation Virtual Conference.

Health care facilities are increasingly drawing attention for their unique exposures, which drive more worker injuries than occur in either manufacturing or construction operations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Friday that it is proposing to create a rule for preventing silicosis by lowering workplace exposure to crystalline silica particles.

ATLANTA — Could the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act drive higher employee disability durations and costs by delaying access to doctors? That was the topic of a presentation at the Disability Management Employer Coalition’s 18th annual…

The apparently irresistible urge to share personal information on Facebook has once again gotten a worker into trouble.

Workers compensation benefit costs rose 3.5% nationwide in 2011 compared with 2010 as the economy improved, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Academy of Social Insurance.

There is still time to register for Business Insurance’s 4th Annual Workers Compensation Virtual Conference.

ATLANTA — Employers could boost worker productivity and reduce absenteeism by helping remove the stigma associated with seeking treatment for mental health issues.

A former San Francisco city official famously skeptical of workers compensation claims is now asking for the city cover a claim contending that he was injured by stress on the job.

The University of California, Davis expects to provide workers compensation benefits for a former police officer who drew national attention for pepper-spraying seated demonstrators, a university spokeswoman confirmed Friday.

Florida employers would see a 1% workers compensation rate increase beginning Jan. 1 under a new rate filing from the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc.

A worker prevailed over Home Depot U.S.A. Inc.’s attempt to move her lawsuit from state court to federal court in a ruling regarding employers opting out of Texas’ workers comp system.

Business Insurance’s latest Solution Arc explores pharmaceutical cost drivers, strategies for mitigating drug usage and costs, and things that cut pharmacy expenses.

A San Diego woman who was caught carrying heavy boxes around while claiming that she was wheelchair-bound reportedly was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay restitution this month for workers compensation fraud and other charges.

While sitting back comfortably in my La-Z-Boy recliner watching recorded episodes of “Deadliest Catch,” I often wondered whether there’s not a bit of hyperbole in this reality TV show’s portrayal of the perils of crab fishing.

Experts will advise employers how to reduce their workplace injury exposures by improving their workers compensation programs during an upcoming free virtual conference presented by Business Insurance.

Companies that buy monoline excess workers compensation policies are considering alternatives, after one of the few national underwriters of the coverage was dealt a recent financial warning.

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled against the federal government after Medicare sought reimbursement from a massive class- action litigation settlement based on the Medicare Secondary Payer Act.

Excess workers comp insurance is a challenging line to underwrite because it guarantees the payment of catastrophic worker claims that can remain open for decades.

States are taking steps to rein in the repackaging of drugs by doctors who are dispensing them to injured workers at higher costs than pharmacies charge.

A series of federal lawsuits filed by Humana Inc. against Farmers Insurance Group of Cos.

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.

One Call Care Management L.L.C., a provider of specialized cost containment services to the worker’s compensation industry, has completed its acquisition of San Diego-based 3iCorp.com, a language services company.

Oregon’s largest workers compensation self-insurance trust, with about 200 employer members, must increase its security deposit by Aug. 7 or face decertification, potentially leaving its members liable for existing claims.

A Texas school district risk manager who alleged that he was terminated for complaining about his employer’s plan to raid its self-insured workers compensation and health insurance funds to build a football stadium press box can pursue his case on a…

Imagine a trial court lacking actuarial sophistication supplanting an underwriter’s expertise in setting workers compensation insurance rates.

Much more needs to be done about pain medication misuse and addiction.

With employers hiring more temporary workers, safety needs to be improved to prevent injuries and deaths among contract employees, experts say.

Humana Inc. has filed four federal lawsuits against Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. arguing that it is entitled to reimbursement from Farmers for benefits that Humana paid for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans.

A former cop for the University of California, Davis is seeking workers compensation benefits for a psychiatric injury after a video that showed him dousing seated, unarmed student protesters with pepper spray went viral.