Quote of the day
"It's a good study in how not to set up a management organization."
Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor, about the scandal-plagued state Bureau of Workers' Compensation
Attorney General Reviewing Workers’ Comp Ballot Measure
A Turlock attorney pushes a ballot measure—the Fair Medical Treatment for Workers Act—that state analysts estimate would add billions of dollars in costs for California employers by allowing injured workers to select their own doctors while permitting providers to decide a course of medical treatment without prior review by insurers or employers.
Go to the full story by Gilbert Chan, Sacramento Bee
Go to the full story by Kelly Johnson, Sacramento Business Journal
Compliant Tennessee Businesses Decry ‘Uneven Playing Field’
Some Tennessee small business owners say the state’s workers’ compensation laws and premium costs penalize them for having safe workplaces. By William Williams, Nashville City Paper
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Ohio Auditor Releases Report on BWC
An Ohio state auditor releases a 55-page report that describes the circumstances that led to several high-profile scandals at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and makes recommendations to strengthen controls at the troubled agency. A task force continues to investigate whether bureau officials manually overrode some employers’ insurance rates that had been previously set by formula.
Go to the full story by Mark Rollenhagen, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Go to the full story by John McCarthy, AP via Akron Beacon Journal
Go to the full story by Jim Otte, WHIO-TV (Dayton)
Group Wants Cameras in Examination Rooms
A small group of injured Ohio workers is trying to change state law to allow taping of workers’ compensation medical examinations. The Ohio Injured Workers Coalition contends video is a weapon against incompetence, inaccuracy or fraud by state- or employer-hired doctors, while the state BWC contends the state’s videotaping ban allows doctors to concentrate on doing the best exam possible. By AP via Newark (Ohio) Advocate
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Buffalo School District Denies Workers’ Comp to Beaten Teacher
A New York judge upholds the denial of workers’ compensation to a 23-year veteran Buffalo high school teacher who last month was viciously attacked by a student as the teacher headed from her car to the school. A schools official says the district denied the teacher’s claim based on a recommendation from a Syracuse risk management firm. By Peter Simon, Buffalo News
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Commentary: Is N.Y. Reform a Fair Deal?
While the recent workers’ compensation compromise in New York somehow satisfied all decision-makers, a workers’ comp attorney contends that its debatable whether changes such as wage benefit caps are fair. By John D. Grzedzicki, Buffalo News
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Texas IT Firm Gets Federal Workers’ Comp Bill-Processing Contract
Dallas information technology firm Affiliated Computer Services lands a $74.8 million contract with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs to provide all medical bill processing and support services for the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, the Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation and the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act programs. Dallas Business Journal
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