Quote of the day
"The sky is not falling."
Clark R. Cossé III, general counsel of the Louisiana Hospital Association and opponent of a Louisiana Senate bill that would exclude preferred provider organizations from penalties for underpaying workers' comp claims, refuting proponents who say non-passage would spur litigation against municipalities
State Fund to Receive More Than $113K from San Diego Contractor
A San Diego County Superior Court judge orders a construction firm owner to pay State Compensation Insurance Fund $113,327 in restitution for defrauding it. Workers’ Comp Executive
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Louisiana Senate Insurance Panel Votes Down PPO Bill
The Louisiana Senate Insurance Committee votes 4-2 against a bill that would exclude preferred provider organizations from penalties for underpaying workers’ compensation claims. A lobbyist for American International Group Inc. testified that unless the bill passed, a mountain of lawsuits would be filed that could expose employers, including municipal governments, to millions of dollars in court judgments. By Mark Ballard, the Advocate (Baton Rouge)
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Specialist Pharmacies Fear Empire State’s Reform Act
A Queens, N.Y., pharmacy that gets about 90 percent of its business from workers’ compensation cases views New York’s recently-passed Workers Compensation Reform Act with trepidation: the law allows insurers to specify which pharmacies and independent medical examiners patients can use. Some local pharmacies believe that dominant workers’ comp carrier State Insurance Fund will direct patients to large, out-of-state pharmaceutical benefit managers. By Christina Santucci, Queens Courier
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Deadline Looms on Sept. 11 Workers’ Comp Program
The estimated 100,000 emergency workers and volunteers who responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center face an August 14, 2007 deadline to register for a special federal workers’ compensation program that covers medical bills and wages for potential future illnesses linked to toxic dust exposure. By Beth Fitzgerald, Newark Star-Ledger
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Florida High Court Hears Firefighter’s Hep C Workers’ Comp Case
Lawyers for a former Orlando firefighter who recently died argue before the Florida Supreme Court in hopes of extracting more workers’ compensation benefits from the city. They contend the city knew he had hepatitis C for more than two decades before he was diagnosed, but that he did not know it four years earlier when he signed an agreement for workers’ comp and a full disability pension. By Sarah Lundy, Orlando Sentinel
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Marine Corps Employee Sentenced
A former Marine Corps employee is sentenced in federal court in North Carolina for receiving federal worker’s compensation for a work-related injury and failing to report to the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. He was operating a car repair and sales business while receiving the benefits. By Lance Cpl. Randy Little, United States Marine Corps
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Woman Sues Brothel for Injuries Suffered in Fall
A woman in South Africa sues an escort service for loss of income, pain and suffering and permanent disability after falling through a hole in the floor of her room at a brothel. Mike van Rooyen, Die Volksblad (South Africa)
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NAIC Study Shows Small Businesses Skimping on Coverage
According to new National Association of Insurance Commissioners research, millions of small businesses are more exposed than they may realize. That includes the 41 percent of small businesses with fewer than 20 employees that lack workers’ comp insurance. Arizona Republic
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