Quote of the day
"In our current budget situation, a couple million dollars a year is a high return. It is an opportunity for savings."
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, about the possibility the city will hire more claims adjusters and a risk manager in order to save $10 million on workers' comp costs over the next five years
San Jose Beleaguered by High Workers’ Comp Costs
Five years ago, the city of San Jose cut costs by slashing its risk management staff, which vetted workers’ compensation claims and tried to get injured employees back on the job. That move may have backfired: the city is paying the most in the state in workers’ comp costs–$42 million last year, according to a consultant’s report, and its examiners all have caseloads that are more than double the state average for comparable cities. By Joshua Molina, San Jose Mercury News
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Will Disability Costs Exceed Price Tag of War?
Providing medical and disability benefits to seriously wounded Iraq war veterans for the next 40 years could add another $350 billion to $700 billion to the total cost of the Iraq war, according to a Harvard University researcher. Register-Guard (Eugene, Ore.)
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Reopen Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, Argue Lawmakers
Lawmakers are urging New York City officials to investigate more Sept. 11-related deaths, days after the medical examiner reverses a prior ruling by linking a Staten Island woman’s death to toxic dust from the towers’ collapse.
Go to the full story by Maggie Haberman, New York Post
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Life Goes On for Maimed Chocolate Plant Worker
A woman who lost her arm in March while cleaning a batter-sifting machine at Hershey’s west coast plant reflects on how her life has changed, and the paltry workers’ compensation benefits she is receiving. The incident is still under investigation. By Serene Branson, KMAX-TV (Sacramento) [With Video] Go to the Full Story…
Louisiana Comp Rates Fall
Significant decreases in insurers’ costs have led to sharply falling rates for workers’ compensation coverage in Louisiana, according to the state’s insurance commissioner. The annual loss cost filing report by the National Council on Compensation Insurance shows that Louisiana had the nation’s largest decrease in loss costs, at 15.8 percent. By Matt Brady, National Underwriter
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Ohio BWC’s New Chief Has Work Cut Out for Her
As the new director of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, a scandal-ridden agency in which many Ohioans have lost confidence, Marsha Pasquinelly Ryan says her message of restoring pride to the nation’s largest government-run insurance fund for injured workers resonates with the office’s employees. By Jim Provance, Toledo Blade
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James Hardie’s Asbestos Compensation Claims Falling
Building products group James Hardie Industries announces an annual profit of $152 million from a $507 million loss the previous fiscal year when it had to absorb costs associated with compensating victims of its asbestos products. The company believes the amount likely to be claimed is less than previously estimated.
Go to the full story by AP via International Herald Tribune
Go to the full story by Scott Rochfort, Sydney Morning Herald
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Suit: AIG Owes Close to $1 Billion
According to a lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Chicago by the National Workers Compensation Reinsurance Pool, New York-based American International Group Inc. may owe more than three times the $317 million it set aside to settle charges it shortchanged state workers’ compensation programs. By Hugh Son, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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