Quote of the day
"From an overall perspective, apportionment really is a fairness issue. It's a fairness issue for employers not being liable to pay for a previous injury or any portion of an injury that's a function of a pre-existing medical condition."
Jerry Azevedo, Workers Compensation Action Network spokesman, about California's 2004 reform legislation
Senate Bill Targets Discrimination in Workers’ Comp Awards
California State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, is pushing legislation that would prohibit doctors from considering age, race or genetic factors in determining the size of workers’ compensation benefits. By Steve Lawrence, San Jose Mercury News
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Former Porterville School District Employee Sentenced for Fraud
A 36-year-old Visalia woman who falsified medical-disability slips and committed workers’ compensation fraud has been ordered to spend 90 days in jail and reimburse her former employer, the Porterville Unified School District. By Michael Miyamoto, Visalia Times Delta
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Connecticut City Worker Faces the Music
A Norwalk, Conn., park maintainer who claimed complete disability after a 2003 job accident but continued to work as a part-time musician faces charges of workers’ compensation fraud. By John Nickerson, Stamford Advocate
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Civilian Iraq Contractors’ Deaths Spike 17 Percent
The number of civilian contractors reported killed in Iraq jumped 17 percent in 2007 and accounted for more than one in four deaths associated with the U.S. occupation last year. But the Labor Department’s figures only provide a rough estimate: they actually record the number of insurance claims filed with the department’s Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation. By David Ivanovich, Houston Chronicle [with photo] Go to the Full Story…
Mountain State Bills Would Create Workers’ Comp Funds
West Virginia lawmakers are considering two bills that state Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline says could help when the workers’ compensation insurance market opens to other companies in July. One would establish an emergency fund for companies that cannot get workers’ comp insurance in the voluntary market; the second would create a guaranteed fund to protect businesses from any insolvency among workers’ comp carriers. West Virginia Metro News
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Firm to Probe WSI’s Compliance
An outside auditor will examine whether the board of directors of North Dakota’s workers’ comp agency, Workforce Safety and Insurance, is following its own rules, a state audit manager says. The review also will examine WSI’s handling of independent medical examinations of workers’ injuries and how some benefit payments are evaluated. By Dale Wetzel, AP via Dickinson Press
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