Quote of the day
"It's been a remarkable journey."
California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi remarking on his final workers' comp rate hearing.
Utilization Review May Control Off-Label Drugs
Pharmacy is difficult to control and the use off-label drugs is no exception. Find out why and what some carriers and self-insured employers are doing about it, all in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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SeaBright Shines in California
SeaBright Insurance Company is banking on both labor and management solving workers’ comp problems. Find out what kinds of accounts it writes and what it’s looking for. You’ll know because it’s all in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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Public Safety Officers Exempted from Apportionment
The governor signed legislation exempting certain public employees from the workers’ comp apportionment statutes. Read this article and you can decide if fairness prevailed. Find it in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive. Paid subscribers can find it online.
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Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante Lays It on the Line
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante talks about what he thinks every Californian should expect from him as insurance commissioner. Find out where he stands on the consumer, workers’ comp and universal healthcare, in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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Another Closing of Another Show
Publius wraps up this legislative session in a fine fit of cynical speech befitting the original. Workers’ comp, past and present, are defined and filleted as only Publius can. Click here to read this commentary on the state of the—well, you’ll see.
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Off-Label Drug Use: The Next Big Cost Driver
Some medications prescribed to treat pain in workers’ comp cases are not approved for that purpose. What drives the practice, which drugs, and what are the ramifications to both the system and the injured worker? Find out in the current edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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No Objective Studies of Off-Label Use
What would you take Oxycontin, Gabapentin, Actiq and Neurontin for? California workers’ comp carriers pay for a lot of these meds. Find out what studies have been done, in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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AIG Faces the Music
American International Group is having a data issue and WCIRB and the Department of Insurance are prepared to act. Find out what the problem is and what the Bureau is doing, in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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Commissioner Garamendi’s Last Hurrah
California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi is moving onto greener pastures after four years as insurance commissioner. Shockingly, he found time to do a little campaigning at his last workers’ comp rate hearing. Find out what he had to say at the hearing and what he plans to do with rates, all in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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WCAB’s Miller Puts His Foot Down Apportionment Calculation Cases
Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Chairman Joseph Miller is taking the bull by the horns on one of the most contentious issues generated by the workers’ comp reforms. Find out what he’s done, why and what the repercussions might be in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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Ohio BWC Says State Agencies Have $46 Million Tab
Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation auditors say state agencies, including universities and university hospitals, have failed to pay or were not charged medical management fees since the inception of the managed care program in 1997, and that they now owe more than $46 million. The bureau’s administrator says he doesn’t understand why the agencies weren’t assessed the fee for managing medical claims in light of an internal audit that cited the BWC for failing to collect the fees.
Go to the full story by Ted Wendling, in the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Go to the full story by AP via Akron Beacon Journal