Quote of the day
"What is it these people don't get about arrogance and accountability? The conditions the agency has placed on WSI employees amount to intimidation."
Editorial, Fargo Forum, about the state's workers' comp agency, Workforce Safety and Insurance
Oversight Effort Creates ‘Firestorm’ in Mountain State
In West Virginia, a legislative subcommittee delays an effort to compel the state insurance commissioner to notify the state legislature on proposed rules and changes in workers’ compensation policies. One lawmaker says the initial proposal for an oversight committee triggered concerns by business and insurance industry representatives who argue that another commission isn’t needed.
Go to the full story by Mannix Porterfield, Beckley Register-Herald
Go to the full story by Walt Williams, State Journal
Commentary: WSI ‘Reckless, Stupid’
Employees at North Dakota’s workers compensation agency don’t have to cooperate with a state highway patrol investigation into possible violations of the state’s whistleblower protection laws, according to Workforce Safety and Insurance’s interim chief executive. Clearly, the agency is continuing the bad old ways that got it into trouble in the first place. Fargo Forum
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OxyContin Falls in Workers’ Comp Cost Ratings
The painkiller OxyContin no longer ranks as the most costly pharmaceutical used to treat workers’ comp injuries, ceding that dubious honor to Lidoderm, a non-narcotic painkiller in patch form, according to Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.’s claims data. OxyContin remains within the top five, however. By Roberto Ceniceros, Business Insurance
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Montana High Court Reverses Workers’ Comp Court
The Montana Supreme Court rules that the state workers’ compensation court failed to follow procedure when it allowed the appeal of a lawsuit by three permanently disabled workers. The suit contends that state law, under which Montana State Fund terminates benefits when an injured worker who is unable to work turns 65 or is eligible to draw Social Security, unconstitutional discriminates on the basis of age. By Katie Oyan, AP via KPAX-TV (Missoula)
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Cornhusker State Workers’ Comp Firm Expands to Rhode Island
FirstComp, a Nebraska-based company focused on providing workers’ compensation insurance to small businesses announces plans to start writing new policies with its partner, Delos Insurance Co., in Rhode Island next month. By Lynn Arditi, Providence Journal
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Ruling May Cost Nova Scotia WCB $12 Million
A slight wording discrepancy between provincial law and the Nova Scotia Workers Compensation Board’s policies that the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal interpreted in favor of an injured worker, is the reason the agency now must re-evaluate about 1,400 chronic-pain claims that began before April 17, 1985. The board estimates paying such claims will cost about $12 million, $7.4 million of which relates to insured claims. By Skana Gee, Halifax Daily News
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Sooner State Program Focuses on Return to Work
In Oklahoma, where workers’ comp reform has been evolving for years, a state review board is recommending a program based on an Idaho model that aims to get injured workers back on the job more quickly. Muskogee Phoenix
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