WorkCompNews

NA - Work Comp driving stress; CA - minimum wage experiment; CA - employer sentenced; CA- Meloxicam driving cost Jeff Cole from Sentry Insurance on Managing Workforce Pressures and C-Suite Stress "evolving workforce pressures are shaping executive concerns." California's Minimum-Wage Experiment Isn't Looking Good - City Journal Substack "The overwhelming majority of the findings—about 96 percent—are negative" Royal Oaks nursery owner sentenced to jail time, fines. - Mountain Democrat "housing workers in poor conditions and evading taxes." High cost pain drug drives California com drug spending "A small number of high-cost prescriptions for the anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam are driving a sharp increase in California workers' compensation prescription drug spending"

AU - false statements in comp; NV-premium relief seen; NA - engaging AI in insurance quotes; CA - planned revisions in utilization Worker sentenced over 'serious' compo scam - Insurance News - insuranceNEWS.com.au "submitted five certificates of capacity containing false or incomplete employment declarations, resulting in payments worth several thousand dollars to which he was not entitled" Balancing Risk and Rate - Nevada Business Magazine "property and workers’ comp, those buyers are finally seeing rate relief." Travelers Companies stock targets faster workers comp quotes with AI - ad-hoc-news.de "The system targets small-business agents." WCIRB plans new methodology for measuring physician services utilization "better account for the complexity of care, an approach that produces “significantly different” results from its existing calculations."

CA - Deposition fee rules;  OH - Pro se claimant held to consistent standard; KY - Guides are not mandatory; NY - understanding class codes.   California proposes revised attorney deposition fee rules - Business Insurance " including lower rates for less-experienced attorneys and provisions allowing payment for travel time and transcript review." Truck driver's glaucoma claim collapses after string of missed deadlines "He appealed, representing himself - as he had done throughout - and raised four grounds for overturning the decision. " Ky. Top Court Upholds Impairment Rating Despite Minor Deviation from AMA Guides "To be grounded in the Guides is not to require a strict adherence to the Guides but rather a general conformity with them" How Class Codes Shape New York Workers' Comp Rates for Employers | Yonkers Times "Every employer with a workers’ comp policy carries a four-digit classification, and that number decides the base rate before any...

NA - Suicide concerns with physicians; NA - 60 tips for claims handling; NA - coincident decisions interacting; NY - corrections officer fabricated injuries.  Montgomery: Calls for Physician Suicide Awareness Highlight Systemic Harms to Providers "seeks to spotlight how systemic inequities harm providers as well as patients" The '60 Tips' Toolbox: Wisdom From Across the Industry - Risk & Insurance "a rapid-fire masterclass in removing obstacles to shorter claim duration" When Optimization Becomes Harm - WorkersCompensation.com "The challenge emerges when individually reasonable decisions combine to create consequences nobody intended. " Former Rikers Officer Jovanny Concepcion Sentenced for $232K Workers' Comp Fraud "ordered to forfeit and repay more than $460,000 after fabricating injuries"

NA- Return to work lauded; NA - Medical inflation significant; NA - changing face of work and the gig; NA - Older workers' claims more expensive Leveraging the Digital Tools to Greatly Reduce Claims Costs - Risk & Insurance "properly managed return to work programs can cut accommodated claims costs by as much as 60%" Medical inflation edges up in comp, with further hikes expected: NCCI - Business Insurance "expects annual price growth to reach 2% to 2.5% over the next several quarters"; "Hospital outpatient prices helped drive the increase" Are we all gig workers now? Or soon? - The Chief Leader "our ranks are growing to now include such traditional work occupations as nurses and home healthcare aides who bid for shift work on an app, lawyers and even dishwashers" Older comp claims require 21% more medical care: NCCI - Business Insurance "claims involving employees aged 65 and older require 21% more medical care on average"

NY - PTSD Standards; CA - Higher penalties on medical providers; NC - Press coverage garners denial reconsideration; TX - Fraud allegations in medical provision; NA - Topical medication challenges; GA - Competent medical evidence. Could Subway Janitor Clean up in Workers' Comp Court after Seeing Mangled Leg? "An emotional stress-induced injury is not compensable in New York if the alleged stressor is one the claimant should reasonably and ordinarily be expected to encounter in the normal work environment" California proposes penalties, tighter rules for medical provider networks "could face new penalties for treatment delays and disclosure failures under proposed rules" Workers' compensation claim approved for NC teacher after ABC11 Troubleshooter investigation "teacher whose workers' compensation claim was denied after he suffered a heart attack at work says he is relieved after his case was approved" Two charged in alleged $19 million federal...

NY - Coverage and benefits with uninsured; KY - Coalminers and the appropriate guidelines; CA - Guilty plea on fraud; ID - Control matters in immunity; NA - Halloween not an environmental risk; NA - Inflation impaccting still.  Construction Workers Injured While Working for Uninsured Contractors May Have Additional ... "a new state fraud program put uninsured employers in the spotlight, along with what their injured workers can still recover." Coal miner's disability award reinstated by Kentucky high court - Business Insurance "reinstated Thursday despite questions about whether his physician followed medical guidelines when assessing his injuries." Monterey Co.: Former Prison Guard Pleads No Contest To Workers' Comp Fraud - SFGATE "pleaded no contest to fraud after receiving more than $200,000 in workers compensation insurance benefits" Idaho Top Court Finds Right to Control Test Applies to Worker's Faulty Railing Lawsuit "the lower court...

NA - GLP-1s in workers' compensation strategy; DE - Another rate reduction; OK - Recouping portion of third-party recovery; KS - Terminating Medical;  IA - Job offer impacts benefits; NA - Benefit ceilings found confusing. Tipping the Scales? GLP-1 Considerations for Workers' Comp - Risk & Insurance "should the workers’ comp industry consider when evaluating and managing these medications?" Delaware workers' compensation insurance rates to drop for 10th year - CoastTV "The new rates, which take effect Dec. 1, include an average 3.99 percent decrease in loss costs for the voluntary insurance market" Workers' comp carriers can recoup death benefits, Oklahoma court rules "Workers’ comp carriers and subrogation professionals in Oklahoma now have definitive state-court authority backing death-benefit recovery from third-party settlements. " Appeals court overturns termination of worker's medical benefits - Business Insurance "Kansas...

NA - increasing relevance of safety; NA - WCRI Study on mental health; VA - New deputy commissioners; NA - NCCI report on treatment delay; TN - Criticism of treatment decisions; NA - Opioids decreasing and pain management questions As workers' comp rates soften, safety records carry more weight at renewal "heading for a 12th year of underwriting profit and premiums flat, a client’s experience mod and safety program are becoming the main levers on price." WorkCompRecap: Mental Modeling! - WorkCompWire "new study from WCRI that examined mental health claims in workers’ comp from 2015 to 2024, provides new evidence on the characteristics, treatment, costs, and disability outcomes associated with such claims." People Moves: Virginia Workers' Comp Commission Names 2 Deputy Commissioners "The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission named two new deputy commissioners, Adam L. Katz and Jason A. Mullins" Injured Workers Are Waiting Longer for First Treatm...

NA - Risk and season change; NA - Managing pharmacy in a post-opioid setting; NA - Robotics eliminating blue-collar work; CA - Repetitive trauma; CT - Three charged with coverage issues; DC - Scheduled loss interaction with wage loss. What Autumn Teaches Us About Prevention - WorkersCompensation.com "The larger lesson connecting them is remarkably consistent. Autumn changes several conditions within a short period of time" A Better Way to Manage Workers' Comp Claim Decisions: 6 Steps to More Effective ... "pharmacy decisions have always required nuance. But the nature of that decision-making has evolved significantly over the last decade." W.R. Berkley CEO: AI-Advanced Robotics Could Impact Workers' Comp by Eliminating Jobs "could impact workers' compensation insurance by eliminating blue collar jobs" How to Manage the Growing Complexity of Cumulative Trauma Claims in Workers' Compensation "claims in California are rising sharply. That...