Quote of the day
"I don't see much clarity in this. I just see more confusion."
South Carolina State Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, about Gov. Mark Sanford's second clarification in a month regarding how workers' comp commissioners award disability payments
Washington Nuclear Reservation Workers in Limbo: Senator
Ailing Hanford nuclear reservation workers and their families are waiting too long for compensation and not being given enough information about their claims with the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, contends U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. By Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.)
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Palmetto State Gov Issues New Workers’ Comp Order
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford issues two new orders to the state’s workers’ compensation commissioners, including a purported clarification of his last order and a directive for commissioners to confirm in each case that attorneys’ fees comply with state ethics rules. Meanwhile, commissioners hear applicant attorneys argue that the governor’s initial order directing them to use medical guidelines in calculating injured workers’ awards is unconstitutional and “pandering to special interest groups.”
Go to the full story by Roddie A. Burris, the State (Columbia)
Go to the full story by Peter Hull, Charleston Post and Courier
Go to the full story by Tim Smith, Greenville News
Go to the full story by Seanna Adcox, AP via Charlotte Observer
Medicare May Have to Explain Workers’ Comp Settlement Delays
The U.S. Senate passes a bill backed by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., to force Medicare to explain why it has stalled settlements to thousands of injured workers nationwide. Since 2001, Medicare has reviewed workers’ comp settlements to ensure that it does not pay benefits properly attributable to workers’ comp insurance; federal officials contend that the majority of delays arise because of attorneys’ incomplete paperwork. By Dunstan McNichol and John Martin, Newark Star-Ledger
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Big Sky Governor Targets Old Fund’s $32 Million Deficit
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer meets with Montana State Fund chief executive Laurence Hubbard to discuss a looming $32 million shortfall in the state’s so-called “Old Fund,” which covers workers injured on the job before 1990. Schweitzer is critical of the 2003 Montana Legislature’s decision to take $22 million from the fund and use it to balance the state budget; Hubbard says the Old Fund’s deficit would probably only be about $5 million to $7 million if the lawmakers had not done that. By Matt Gouras, AP via Great Falls Tribune
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N.D. Whistleblowers: WSI Execs Will Stop at Nothing to Retaliate
“It has become apparent that the executive management at WSI will go to any length to identify employees who express concern for perceived illegal acts,” a Workforce Safety and Insurance human resource manager says in her request to the North Dakota attorney general for whistleblower protection. The controversy erupts as the agency’s chief executive, Sandy Blunt, returns from a six-month leave of absence after the dismissal of felony conspiracy charges against him. By Dale Wetzel, AP via Grand Forks Herald
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BrickStreet CEO Touts ‘Huge Change’ in System
“Workers’ comp had bumps for years,” according to Greg Burton, president and chief executive of West Virginia’s private, exclusive workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co., and the system would have gone bankrupt had BrickStreet not taken over. Moreover, Mountain State rates have plunged an average of 27 percent since January 2006 to become more in line with other states. By Jessica Legge, Fairmont Times West-Virginian
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Aussie Labor: No More Opting Out of State Schemes
Australia’s Labor Party promises a moratorium on private employers opting out of state-based workplace safety jurisdictions and workers’ compensation schemes. Major employers in recent years have moved to the federal Comcare scheme, which was originally designed solely for public servants but is now flooded with thousands of private sector workers. Sydney Morning Herald [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Sooner State Lawmaker’s Study Prompts Questions
Oklahoma State Rep. Mark McCullough introduces his interim study on the state’s workers’ compensation system before a state House economic development committee. Despite repeated legislative efforts to curb workers’ compensation costs, does the system foster litigation more effectively than it helps injured workers return to work? By Janice Francis-Smith, Journal Record (Oklahoma City)
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