News Digest 10-7-2019

Quote of the day

“I don’t know anyone in healthcare who hasn’t been hurt.”

Elizabeth Mack M.D., division chief of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Health

WCBD (Mount Pleasant, S.C.)

 

MEMIC announces $22M dividend to employers

Portland, Maine-based mutual insurance company The MEMIC Group says it plans to pay its policyholders $22 million in dividends this year, matching last year’s record amount. The workers’ compensation insurer says it will deliver checks as large as $200,000 in November to its 18,000 employer members. Journal Tribune

 

Workplace violence rampant in South Carolina healthcare sector

The Medical University of South Carolina reported 133 incidents of workplace violence in 2018; 99 of the incidents reported involved patients. South Carolina is one of a handful of states without added legal protections for healthcare workers. This summer, the university launched a campaign with the South Carolina Hospital Association intended to spotlight workplace violence and encourage employees who have experienced or witnessed it to come forward. WCBD (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) [with video]

 

Montana man pleads guilty to workers’ comp fraud

A Helena, Montana construction contractor recently pleaded guilty in to charges including failure to pay workers’ compensation premiums or Social Security taxes. KGVO

 

Reform credited for drop in workers’ comp costs

Workers’ compensation insurance costs paid by Oklahoma businesses have declined in recent years and may fall further as medical and other related costs also continue to fall. Journal Record [may require registration]