Quote of the day
"The good news is rates are going down. The question is how dramatic the changes will be."
Scott Hauge, president of San Francisco-based Cal Insurance & Associates.
Go to the full story in the Workers' Comp Executive
State Fund Group Administrators Paid $500 Million
State Compensation Insurance Fund has paid out more than $500 milllion in fees to its administrators, payments the company wont’ disclose. That is the tip of the iceberg in this saga of the vast amounts of money involved in these programs that led to the firing of State Fund’s president, Jim Tudor. Read all about it in this week’s issue.
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State Fund Governance – A Proposal
Read the language that will likely go into one of two bills that aims to a better system of governance over State Fund in this week’s issue. It is modeled on regulations for publicly traded companies.
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Outraged
If déà vu were an occupational disease, most of us would be on workers’ compensation. Permanent disability, the labor unions and rational thinking from Publius. That’s what you’ll get when reading this free article, which you can do right now by clicking here.
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X-Mods and Rates to Be Adjusted
Claims costs continue to plummet, but X-Mods may increase for employers even with no claims or loss ratios. This is against a backdrop of lower rates. Find out what’s happening and what the likely rates will be, all in this week’s print edition. Premium subscribers can click here for the whole story.
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24-Hour Care—It’s What’s for Dinner
Yet another discussion of 24-hour coverage seems like stale leftovers to those who’ve eaten at the trough for a while, but the topic keeps coming up afresh. This article will give you a taste of what’s new on the menu, now served up in the current print edition. Or if you’re a premium subscriber, click here.
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Ohio Nursing Homes Want State to Foot Rate Boost
The Ohio Academy of Nursing Homes asks the Ohio Supreme Court to decide who should pay for increases in workers’ compensation insurance premiums. The state contends that the premiums are part of the cost of doing business and the nursing homes should cover the costs themselves. By John McCarthy, AP via Akron Beacon Journal
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Equality State Businesses Get Discount for Drug Testing
Businesses in Wyoming can receive a 5-percent discount on their workers compensation insurance premiums by testing their workers for drug and alcohol use. National statistics show that 38 percent to 50 percent of all workers compensation claims are related to substance abuse in the workplace and that substance abusers are five times more likely to file workers comp claims. By AP via Jackson Hole Star-Tribune
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Audit Recommends Phase-Out of S.C. Second Injury Fund
An audit by the South Carolina Legislative Audit Council concludes that part of the Palmetto State’s workers’ compensation system—the Second Injury Fund—should be phased out because it fails to protect businesses from higher insurance costs if they hire the disabled and those with previous workplace injures. WIS-TV (Columbia, S.C.)
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New Laws Aim to Protect Australia’s Federal Comcare Scheme
One year after passage of controversial reforms, Australia’s federal parliament wants to restrict injured workers’ eligibility for workers’ compensation in order to ensure that Comcare, the federal workers’ comp scheme, remains financially viable and contends courts have been too generous in awarding compensation to injured workers. But the government suffers an unexpected defeat when it fails to ensure there are enough coalition senators in the chamber to pass it. By AAP via Sydney Morning Herald
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