Quote of the day
"The ability to profit is a tremendous disincentive to the injured worker to return to work and has become a way for people in volunteer positions or for the jail inmate to improve their situations by claiming an injury."
Assemblymember John Benoit, R-Riverside
Go to the full story in the Workers' Comp Executive
http://www.wcexec.com/articles/WCE00-20070426-005.htm.aspx
Assembly Insurance Works on TD
The Assembly Insurance Committee passed one of two bills that increase the frame during which injured workers can collect temporary disability benefits, while it held back on voting on a less onerous Republican-sponsored bill. Learn the details in this week's edition.
http://www.wcexec.com/articles/WCE00-20070426-004.htm.aspx
CHSWC Attempts 24-Hour Care Plan with Union Employers
A new pilot project would test the efficacy of 24-hour care among unionized private employers with a labor union representing janitors all over California. No lawyers? Find out how this may help clean up the workers' comp system, in the current print edition of Workers' Comp Executive. Premium subscribers can click right here.
http://www.wcexec.com/articles/WCE00-20070426-003.htm.aspx
Reforms Helped California Outperform Other States
A new study reflects the swift change in California's workers' comp costs after reforms, which helped the state outperform other states in terms of cost savings.
Publius LVI. Employers Get a Present
Publius comments on the two newest appointments to California’s Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation. Let us know what you think. This content is available free to all readers who click here.
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CHSWC Gets Two New Members
Two new members have been tapped by the governor for the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation. They represent the voices of employers. Will it change anything? Premium subscribers can read it by clicking here; others can get it in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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“Wild Bill,” Applicant Attorney
California’s Secretary of State has approved for signature gathering a workers’ comp initiative. If passed, a free-for-all will ensue for applicant attorneys and doctors, and it could be the end of the workers’ comp business in California as we know it. Of course, before it gets on the ballot, someone—nearly 450,000 someones—needs to sign the petition to get it there. Find out who Wild Bill is, why the CAAA doesn’t support this thing, and whether it has a chance. Read all about it in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive, or if you’re a premium subscriber, just click here.
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Workers’ Comp Roundup
Hawaii workers’ comp bill has employers up in arms, as does South Dakota’s Supreme Court rules that pot use the night before an accident did not contribute to a landscaper’s injuries.
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Tennessee Transport Firm to Drop Use of Bogus Waiver Forms
A Tennessee Department of Labor lawsuit against a shipping company prompts it to stop using purportedly state-issued forms intended to get employees to waive the right to seek workers’ compensation. The firm, Covenant Transport, now must attempt to identify all employees who signed the rights waivers and inform them that the form is void.
Go to the full story in the Chattanoogan
Go to the full story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press
Here in Youngstown, Review Board on the Table
Youngstown, Ohio’s city treasurer tells the city council that Youngstown needs an injured worker review board and that he had has been paying injured workers their salary rather that having them seek workers’ compensation at a higher cost. Under the plan, city officials would present information to workers about accidents as well as braces and supports workers can wear while lifting heavy objects. By D.A. Wilkinson, Youngstown Vindicator
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