Quote of the day
"Too many employers treat workers' compensation like a car accident."
John Mastropietro, Connecticut Worker's Compensation Commission chairman, who warns insurers to prepare for changes to the state's workers' comp system, which last experienced an overhaul in 1993
Conn. Workers’ Comp Official: Expect Changes
Connecticut Worker’s Compensation Commission chairman John Mastropietro says that several years of reform bills in the Connecticut General Assembly may have failed, but their existence demonstrates a willingness on the part of newer lawmakers to revisit the contentious issue. By Kenneth J. St. Onge, Hartford Business
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Will Mountain State Workers’ Comp Bill Face Uphill Climb?
An attempt to give the state legislature some power over how BrickStreet Mutual runs West Virginia’s new, privatized workers’ comp system clears a hurdle over the weekend, but it appears that passage will not necessarily be easy. One main critic of the new system suggests that a new proposed oversight panel is needed because the insurance commissioner has failed to meet quarterly with a legislative panel to discuss BrickStreet’s operations. By Mannix Porterfield, Beckley Register Herald
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N.H. Legislature Targets Controversial Provision
The New Hampshire Legislature is expected to throw out a controversial section of a new workers’ comp law that small contractors say puts them at a disadvantage in bidding for jobs by requiring anyone working on a job site to be covered by workers’ comp. Before the law, up to three executive officers of a company could be exempted. By Benjamin Kepple, New Hampshire Union Leader
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Granite State Man Admits Theft in Workers’ Comp Case
A 52-year-old New Hampshire man pleads guilty to theft in a workers’ compensation case for collecting more than $5,500 from the Hartford while continuing to work. By AP via Boston Globe
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American Financial Acquires Louisiana Workers’ Comp Firm
American Financial Group, Inc. of Cincinnati will acquire Strategic Comp Holdings, LLC, a Metairie, La., firm that provides workers’ compensation plans, under undisclosed terms. Business Courier of Cincinnati
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Ohio Dem Speaks Out Against Workers’ Comp Bill
Ohio State Rep. Jay Goyal, a Democrat, is criticizing a bill he believes would impede efforts to reform the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. He contends that the bill, which is moving to the state senate and would restructure how the BWC invests public money, undermines reforms passed earlier this year and also impedes the work of experts that oversee those investments. By Linda Martz, Mansfield News Journal
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Opinion: Investment Oversight Bill Should Be Just the Beginning
‘Pass it and forget it’ should not be the attitude that legislators take in reforming the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation. Continuing scrutiny and fine-tuning of reform legislation is necessary, especially for a bill that it may limit the bureau’s ability to earn money and cause it to charge businesses higher premiums. Wheeling (W.V.) Intelligencer
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Maine Firefighter Claims Discrimination Based on Disability
A Winslow, Maine, call firefighter accuses the town of discrimination for allegedly asking her to resign because of a bone mineral condition she claims is non life-threatening and does little to limit her capabilities as a firefighter. She calls filing for workers’ comp after a fracture she suffered during training “a mistake.” By Colin Hickey, Kennebec Journal
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