Quote of the day
"We're seeing more and more physicians who are refusing to treat Medicare and Medicaid patients, and now we're seeing it with workers' compensation (cases) because reimbursements were set by the Legislature 11 years ago."
Richard Meiers, Healthcare Association of Hawaii president and chief executive officer
Inland Southern California Car Wash Owners Nabbed for Suspected Fraud
Authorities arrest the owner of two Moreno Valley, Calif. car washes and his son for workers’ compensation fraud, accusing them of ordering an employee who injured his hand in the wheel of a vehicle to say the injury was not work-related. By Nathan Max, the Press-Enterprise
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Oroville Fraud Forum Features Former ‘Long Island Don’
A three-day forum in Oroville, Calif. on fraud and identity theft features a talk from a former Mafia kingpin on a variety of topics including workers’ compensation fraud. Oroville Mercury-Register
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Fidelity Sub Acquires Southern California-Based VPA Inc.
Memphis, Tenn.-based Sedgwick Claims Management Service Inc. purchases privately-held VPA Inc. Sedgwick, a minority-owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc., manages workers compensation and disability insurance claims for companies and insurance programs nationwide; VPA, a Calabasas, Calif.-based claims manager, focuses on claims management in state disability insurance programs. Jacksonville Business Journal
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Paltry Paybacks Drive Hawaii Physicians from Profession
One of only four spinal surgeons in Hawaii is quitting the profession after 16 years of practice because of “impossibly low” reimbursements, increased bureaucracy and an income of only half what he brought in a decade ago—and he’s not alone. What’s behind the state’s “rapidly disintegrating” health care system? By Helen Altonn, Honolulu Star-Bulletin [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Trench Victim’s Kin Sue Developer, City and County
The family of a Lancaster construction worker who was killed in March 2005 when a trench at a housing-tract construction site collapsed files a wrongful death lawsuit against the developer, the city and Los Angeles County. Cal/OSHA has cited the contractor for failing to inspect the trench or provide a protective system and fined it more than $33,000. By Karen Maeshiro, Los Angeles Daily News
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Cooperation Urged as West Virginia Expands Classifications
Officials urge West Virginia employers to work with BrickStreet Mutual Insurance, the state’s private workers’ compensation insurer, to avoid confusion with the new business classification system. BrickStreet contracted with the National Council on Compensation Insurance to become the state’s classification and rating agent beginning July 1. By Samantha Perry, Bluefield (W.V.) Daily Telegraph
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Dairy State Law Provides State-Backed Workers’ Comp
Under a new law in Wisconsin, the state will provide liability and workers’ compensation coverage when a state of emergency is declared and medical workers are called to help. By AP via WBAY-TV (Green Bay)
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Canada’s Worker’s Comp Boards Must Deal with Chronic Pain
“It’s not in people’s heads, it’s not just that they’re trying to get out of things they don’t like to do. It’s that they have real physical pain and we now understand chronic pain to be a neural response to tissue injury,” says Dr. Mary Lynch, interim director of a Canadian pain management unit and the keynote speaker at the recent Pain Day conference. Lynch says the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia cannot deny the problem since a 2003 court ruling that workers with chronic pain can collect long-term benefits. Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
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