Quote of the day
"It's a disaster. It's devastating. It ruins people's lives."
Injured worker Linda Vierling of Fair Oaks, about California's post-reform workers' comp system; Vierling supports Senate Bill 936, which would essentially double permanent disability payments
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Reform a ‘Disaster’ Contend Some Injured Workers
Workers’ compensation patients and their advocates visit the state capitol to urge Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign Senate Bill 936, which would increase benefits for permanently disabled workers. They say the 2004 reform bill is having tragic, unintended consequences. Business groups, led by the California Chamber of Commerce and the state manufacturers association, want a veto on grounds that it’s not premised on reliable data.
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Go to the full story by Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
West Virginia AG’s Office Ridicules Restitution Request
An assistant to West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw calls the West Virginia Business and Industry Council’s demand that McGraw reimburse the state’s “old” Workers’ Compensation Fund more than $2.2 million won in a lawsuit against the maker of OxyContin “laughable” and “raw politics.” By George Hohmann, Charleston Daily Mail
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Suit Alleges BrickStreet Overcharged
A West Virginia manufacturer seeks class-action status in a lawsuit against the state’s exclusive workers’ compensation insurer, BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co., alleging the agency overcharged companies that had coverage through it. By Beth Gorczyca Ryan, State Journal
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In Illinois, IWCC Chief to Run for Judge
Touting his role in leading a major workers’ comp reform package through the state legislature, the chairman of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission formally launches his campaign for the position of circuit judge. By Steve Rensberry, Edwardsville Intelligencer
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Top Honolulu Cop Remains on Sick Leave
Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa, 61, will miss at least two more weeks of work while doctors continue to try to figure out what is wrong with his back. Since taking the job in August 2004, Correa has taken 117 days of workers’ compensation leave. By Peter Boylan, Honolulu Advertiser
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Maine Workers’ Comp Insurer Cleared to Cover in Four More States
MEMIC Indemnity Co., a subsidiary of the MEMIC Group in Portland, receives authorization from state regulatory authorities to cover workers’ compensation insurance in Rhode Island, North Carolina, Virginia and Colorado. Mainebiz
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The Dark Side of Canada’s ‘Chemical Valley’
Sarnia is fabled as Canada’s chemical valley because of its many petroleum plants, but its industrial prosperity has a dark side: the area is the most polluted in Ontario when it comes to smokestack emissions, and that’s hurting the health of residents according to a study by environmental group Ecojustice Canada. By Martin Mittelstaedt, Toronto Globe and Mail
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