Second doctor pleads guilty to workers’ comp fraud conspiracy
An Alexandria, Louisiana physician pleaded guilty this week to conspiring to violate three different federal statutes in connection with a scheme to defraud both federal and private workers’ compensation insurers. Court documents reportedly allege the basic premise of the scheme, which ran from 2013-17, was that people associated with a Rogers, Arkansas-based medical supply and billing company recruited the physician to dispense pain creams and patches to his workers’ compensation patients by offering him a split of the profits. KNWA
Montana State Fund announces rate reduction, $40M dividend
Montana State Fund, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurance company, recently announced a 3% average rate reduction for its policyholders, the 16th consecutive year its rates have remained flat or been reduced, according to agency officials. With the most recent reduction, MSF’s rates are now 54.1% lower than in 2006, the year of the last rate increase, state fund officials say. Helena Independent-Record
Ohio BWC seeks real estate consultant
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is searching for a real estate investment consultant. The bureau, which oversees a total of $23.2 billion in state insurance assets including the $20.4 State Insurance Fund, issued an RFP because it has decided to change the nature of its real estate investments, according to a spokeswoman. Pensions & Investments
Minnesota workers’ comp group paying out record $600M distribution
The Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Reinsurance Association, a state-mandated nonprofit business, plans a record $600 million distribution to customers, its first since 2000. Earlier this month the state Department of Labor and Industry and Department of Commerce approved the record distribution. About $383 million will go to insurers who purchase reinsurance to cover catastrophic claims, $182 million to self-insured companies and $35 million to policyholders. Minneapolis Star-Tribune