Quote of the day
"Deciding to hold the annual meeting in Kentucky ... is something of a slap in the face to West Virginians who helped BrickStreet to get off to a good start."
Editorial, Wheeling News-Register
Opinion: BrickStreet Blew It
There is no question that BrickStreet Mutual is a West Virginia employer that depends on the West Virginia businesses and their premium payments for its existence. Taking its annual meeting for agents to Kentucky is hardly gratitude, especially when the “private company” owes its very existence to the Mountain State, and should be aware of the fragile nature of its economy.
Go to the full editorial, Charleston Daily Mail
Go to the full editorial, Wheeling News-Register
New York Towns Cry Foul over Over-Budgeted Workers’ Comp
Otsego County, N.Y., has over-budgeted for workers’ compensation by about $800,000 this year, upsetting officials in some recently billed villages, according to a county attorney. As a result of the hike, Cooperstown is investigating whether it can buy insurance more cheaply outside the county pool. By Tom Grace, Oneonta Daily Star
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Minnesota Slaughterhouse Employee Challenges Denial
A former employee formally challenges an Austin, Minn.-area pork processor’s denial of her workers’ compensation claim. The worker claims she suffers from a set of neurological symptoms related to her exposure to pig brain mist created by air compressors she and other workers used during the slaughtering process. By Mia Simpson, Austin Daily Herald [with photo] Go to the Full Story…
Whistleblowers Contend Insurers Are Clogging SSA
The Social Security system, which defines “disabled” more narrowly than insurers generally do, is choking on paperwork and spending millions of dollars a year screening dubious applications for disability benefits, according to whistleblower lawsuits that blame insurers for the problem. By Mary Williams Walsh, New York Times via Seattle Times
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Silver State Legislators Call for Probe of Nevada OSHA
Lawmakers say they expect the Nevada Legislature to hold hearings on safety lapses involved in construction deaths at sites along the booming Las Vegas Strip, and on Nevada OSHA’s allegedly timid response. State Sen. Randolf Townsend, R-Reno, says of the privatization of Nevada’s insurance program in the 1990’s, “I had said, ‘The way you fix the problem with workers’ compensation in the state of Nevada is just not to let anybody get hurt,’ and we vowed to create safer workplaces. It is a real disappointment that we’re starting to find cracks in the system with these terrible tragedies.” By Alexandra Berzon, Las Vegas Sun [with photos, links to archives] Go to the Full Story…
The ‘Attempted Destruction’ of Workers’ Comp in South Australia
A workers’ comp advocate claims that proponents are wrong when they argue that, that even with certain proposed legislative changes, the South Australian workers’ compensation scheme will still be the best in Australia. The reality is that, if passed, the proposed legislation will benefit business at the severe expense of injured workers and their families. By Les Birch, CPA.org
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