Quote of the day
"Oddly, what was missing ... was mayoral outrage on another front. Another way we are being ripped off. It has to do with the monstrously high workers compensation claims that are being paid out by the city."
Carol Marin, Columnist, Chicago Sun-Times
SeaBright Shares Surge on Third Quarter Report
Shares of SeaBright Insurance Holdings Inc., which has a wholly owned subsidiary that is a workers’ compensation underwriter, jump after the company reports its third-quarter earnings. By AP via Houston Chronicle
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Chicago Mayor Has No Answer for Taxpayer-Funded ‘Buffoonery’
Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley made a big show at a Tuesday press conference about how the city goes after the scourge of drug dealers, but he had precious little to relate about his latest scandal: politically-connected Chicago city workers who somehow have a higher injury rate than Kentucky coal miners or Idaho slaughterhouse workers. His opponent in the next mayoral election, Jesse Jackson, Jr., wants a federal probe, while a Sun-Times columnist wonders why men’s body parts get special coverage in the workers’ comp handbook. By Carol Marin, Chicago Sun-Times
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BWC Says Rate Probe Not Yet a Criminal Matter
Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation officials retract part of their statement earlier this week that the agency is conducting a criminal investigation into possible inappropriate manipulation of employer premium rates, says a bureau spokeswoman. According to state Sen. Marc Dann, an audit allegedly shows that some employers’ rates were reduced after they complained to state lawmakers. By Laura A. Bischoff, Dayton Daily News
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Noe Disguised Transactions, Accountant Testifies
Indicted Ohio coin dealer Tom Noe put the money he allegedly pilfered from a $50 million coin fund he was supposed to manage on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation into his personal business by disguising the transactions as coin sales for which little documentation exists, an accountant testifies. Prosecutors contend Noe loaned the state’s money to friends and used it to pay contractors working on his homes in the Florida Keys.
Go to the full story by Mike Wilkinson, Toledo Blade [With Photos] Go to the full story by John Seewer, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer
Texas County Agrees to Cover Volunteer Firefighters
Cooke County, Texas commissioners unanimously vote to increase optional Texas Association of Counties Workers’ Compensation insurance coverage to include volunteer fire departments. By Andy Hogue, Gainesville (Texas) Daily Register
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Japan: Comp Claims Move at a Snail’s Pace
With only nine members on the Labor Insurance Appeal Committee reexamining a burgeoning caseload, workers’ compensation that cannot be handled within a fiscal year have recently exceeded 1,000 annually. In some cases, it has taken the committee more than eight years to reach conclusions. Daily Yomiuri (Japan)
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‘Sticker Shock’ Possible in West Virginia
Workers’ compensation policyholders will receive invoices for six-, eight- or 12-month policies in November as BrickStreet Insurance tries to streamline its operations. By staggering policy renewal dates, BrickStreet can spread out when it receives policies and give more focus to customers, according to an official. By Evan Bevins, Parkersburg (W.V.) News and Sentinel
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