Quote of the day
"I think if there was more defending of claims and less paying off, we'd be far better off."
Gary Marble, president of Associated Industries of Missouri, about a state auditor's report that the state's Second Injury Fund likely will be depleted by next year
Go to the full story by Derek Kravitz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Better Board Selection Process Sought for N.D. Agency
North Dakota legislators order changes in the process of selecting the board that oversees Workforce Safety and Insurance, the state’s embattled workers’ compensation agency, in order to “get more well-rounded (candidates),” according to one Republican sponsor. The bill also gives the governor 30 days to reject a nominee and reduces the number of four-year terms a board member may serve; critics say the changes do not go far enough. By Blake Nicholson, Bismarck Tribune
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Show Me the Money! Missouri Fund Dry by Next Year: Auditor
Missouri’s Second Injury Fund will probably run out of cash by 2008, a state audit released Wednesday says, and will face a $57.5 million shortfall through 2009. The audit says the fund is strapped due to two main reasons: the state’s 2005 workers’ compensation overhaul, and a recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling allowing disability benefits to be paid after a worker has died.
Go to the full story by Derek Kravitz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Go to the full story by Tim Hoover, Kansas City Star
Ohio Legislators Mull Changes to Oversight of Bureau
As an Ohio Senate committee recommends approval of a new Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation administrator, the state House of Representatives passes a bill that proposes sweeping changes to the agency, including a significant dramatic increase in oversight board members’ pay and restoration of some of the administrator’s powers that the governor has sought to transfer to a new, more powerful board.
Go to the full story by Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch
Go to the full story by Jim Provance, Toledo Blade
Tech: Paying a High Cost for Cheap Software
Feeble information technology systems simply won’t meet many workers’ compensation insurance carriers’ needs. It’s a lesson executives learned the hard way at Crawford & Co., an Atlanta-based third-party administrator that handles workers’ compensation claims. By John McCormack, Insurance Networking News
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Cornhusker State Bill Would Base Benefits on Potential Earnings
Workers’ compensation benefits would increase for Nebraska’s injured workers under a bill that allows the workers’ compensation court to provide compensation based on loss of potential earnings, rather than relying on the current inflexible table, which is based on the number of limbs disabled. It would also reduce workers’ comp payment rates to Nebraska hospitals, which are now among the highest in the nation. By Nancy Hicks, Lincoln Journal Star
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MAC Hands Out Dividend Checks
The Missouri Association of Counties, a statewide local government organization that operates a Self-Insured Workers’ Compensation Fund to which 95 member counties and 13 related agencies belong, hands out safety-based dividends of more than $177,000. California Democrat (California, Mo.)
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