- 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.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Workers compensation pioneer Dr. Gary Franklin sounds opioid alarm
Years 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 costs
DANA 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 Point
DANA 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: Fitch
California’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 contractors
DANA POINT, Calif.
- California’s workers comp reforms may not reduce system costs for payers: Panel
DANA 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.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- California workers comp reform measure signed into law
California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed workers compensation reform legislation into law on Tuesday, saying the law will reverse a four-year trend of rate increases.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Tracking true cost of lost productivity remains a challenge
Poor worker health and related productivity losses cost U.S. employers $576 billion annually, including workers compensation, disability and group health program expenses, according to research released last week.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Untaxed tips must be counted toward bartender’s comp benefit: Nev. high court
Determining the amount of workers compensation benefits owed to an injured bartender must include the untaxed tips he received and reported to his employer, Nevada’s Supreme Court has ruled.
- OFF BEAT: MMA fighter works out deal on workers comp fraud charges
A Los Angeles firefighter who found himself in hot water when he was caught pursuing a career as a mixed martial arts fighter while on disability leave from his fire department job has ended his battle with prosecutors who had charged him with insurance…
- OFF BEAT: Daughter collects deceased dad’s workers comp payments for 22 years
The state of Hawaii for 22 years paid workers compensation benefits to a dead man amounting to nearly $400,000.
- Poor health of employees can drag down productivity: Integrated Benefits Institute
Workers’ poor health and its drag on productivity costs U.S. employers $576 billion annually, according to an estimate released Wednesday by the San Francisco-based Integrated Benefits Institute.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Worker who tested positive for cocaine use in injury probe entitled to back pay, fees: Court
An employee fired after testing positive for cocaine use in a workplace injury investigation is entitled to back pay and attorney fees because her carpal tunnel injury was not an accident, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled.
- Workers comp patients have fewer illicit drugs in systems: Analysis
Workers compensation patients have illicit drugs in their systems less frequently than patients whose care is paid for by other medical delivery systems, according to a study by a drug monitoring company.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Seriously injured stripper not entitled to workers comp benefits: S.C. appeals court
A stripper seriously injured by a stray bullet fired during an altercation in the club where she was working is not entitled to workers compensation benefits because she was not an employee, South Carolina’s Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
Workers Compensation Press Updates
- Treatment guidelines help reduce amount of services used for low back injuries: WRCI
Medical treatment guidelines can help reduce the amount of medical services used for lower back injuries, but produce mixed results for helping to treat other types of injuries, according to the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
- N.J. comptroller’s report warns of ‘undisclosed revenue-share agreements’ by TPAs
Third-party administrators may be generating revenue through undisclosed “side agreements” that drive up public employers’ workers compensation costs, a report by the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller warned recently.
- California lawmakers approve workers compensation reform package
California lawmakers approved a massive workers compensation reform package Friday that advocates say will boost benefits for injured workers while helping California employers to cope with rising comp rates for 2013.
