Quote of the day
"The proposed initiative merely reverses the burden so that the employer must take the initiative to challenge the treatment as opposed to the present situation where the injured worker must prove his entitlement over the refusal of a claims adjuster to provide the requested medical treatment."
William Morris, Turlock applicants' attorney, refuting California Attorney General Jerry Brown's characterization of Morris' workers' comp ballot measure
Attorney’s Petition for Ballot Measure Gets Go-Ahead
A California workers’ compensation ballot measure proposed by Turlock applicants’ attorney William Morris can now be circulated for signatures, he says. The proposal would reverse laws limiting injured workers’ ability to choose medical providers and end current requirements for the insurer or employer to approve treating doctors’ recommendations, among other provisions. By Kelly Johnson, East Bay Business Times
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LWCC to Pay Out $23.2 Million to Policyholders
Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation will pay a $23.2 million dividend to qualifying policyholders later this month, state Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and LWCC President/CEO Kristin W. Wall announce. Bayou Buzz
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Opinion: Decision a Setback for Missouri’s Comp System
A Missouri workers’ comp attorney contends the Missouri Supreme Court recently dealt a blow to the state’s workers’ compensation law when it denied the state Second Injury Fund’s motion for rehearing after the court ruled that a surviving spouse of a permanently and totally disabled employee, who died of causes unrelated to his work injury, could recover the unpaid and unaccrued balance of permanent total disability benefits upon his death. By James B. Kennedy via St. Louis Post Dispatch
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Ohio BWC Investment Figure Indicted for Money Laundering
Clarke T. Blizzard, the investment marketer who admitted in federal court to conspiring to bribe the former chief financial officer of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, faces new state charges of laundering money and gifts in exchange for bureau investment business. Toledo Blade
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Can Cleveland Schools Fix Costly Workers’ Comp Mess?
Cleveland school officials learned last fall that they were paying far too much in workers’ compensation claims and now they know some reasons why, including poor case monitoring and failure to reassign injured staff to temporary jobs. But the real question is whether the new schools chief and his team have the will and expertise to do the hard work of cost-cutting. Cleveland Plain Dealer
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Nova Scotia WCB: Workplace Injuries on the Downswing
The annual report of the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia finds that fewer workers were hurt on the job in Nova Scotia last year than in the previous two years, but the board’s CEO argues that the province still has one of the highest rates of workplace injury in the country. By Amy Smith, Chronicle Herald (Halifax)
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Commentary: Report Finds High Comp Costs in Constitution State
It won’t be news to beleaguered Connecticut business owners, but according to a new report, business costs in the state are similar to its neighbors but more than 20 percent higher than in North Carolina, Texas and New Hampshire. And Connecticut’s workers comp costs are also the second-highest of the states studied. Connecticut Business News Journal
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