Quote of the day
"We are giving the fraud investigators the tools and the funding to go after the employers who fail to buy workers' compensation insurance. We want a level playing field."
Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-L.A., author of SB 869.
Software Aligns Data Collection to Snare Worker’s Comp Scofflaws
The ability of California’s workers’ compensation scofflaws—an estimated 100,000 businesses statewide—to operate below law enforcement radar, unfairly gaining an advantage over law-abiding competitors, is threatened with the expected passage of SB 869. The software will “straighten out the software,” according to State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-L.A., by matching employers’ reports of payroll with records of insured employers. By Marton Dunai, Contra Costa Times
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Mexico Nonprofit Schools Migrants on Workplace Rights
The Center for Migrant Rights is a small nonprofit group based in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas that provides free legal aid to immigrant laborers seeking compensation for injuries or missed pay. Rachel Micah-Jones, a U.S. lawyer who founded the Center in 2005, says reaching illegal workers is difficult because of their fear of authorities and the arrests two years ago of 48 workers in a “sting” in North Carolina. By Monica Campbell, San Francisco Chronicle
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Missouri Reform Shows Employers the Money
Two years after Show Me State lawmakers made it more difficult for injured workers to qualify for workers’ compensation, employers’ premiums have dropped to 1994 levels. However, neither insurers nor government officials who oversee the state’s workers’ comp system say the most recent drop in rates can be attributed solely to the 2005 reform. By AP via Springfield News-Leader
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Oversight of Ohio’s Troubled Agency Overhauled
Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio signs a two-year Bureau of Workers’ Compensation budget bill intended to overhaul the scandal-plagued agency. Changes include replacing the bureau’s oversight commission with a board of directors appointed by the governor and an oversight council of legislators, and creation of a new deputy inspector general’s post devoted solely to investigating the BWC and the Industrial Commission.
Go to the full story by Mark Rollenhagen, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Go to the full story in Business First of Columbus
Arizona Senate Gives Final Approval to Benefit Hike
Injured Arizona workers would be able to collect more benefits beginning next year under legislation that the Senate overwhelmingly approved Monday. Workers hurt in job-related mishaps are supposed to be paid two-thirds of their salary; current law limits that amount to $1,600 a month. By Howard Fischer, AP via Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff)
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Commentary: Fixing Medical Pros’ Errors in Comp System
Peter Rousmaniere, a Vermont-based consultant and writer, argues that in workers’ compensation claims management, there are three main types of errors in medical professionals’ decision-making. Controlling them can help insurers cut loss ratios. By Peter Rousmaniere, Risk and Insurance
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Panel Reinstates Jury Award in Alleged Retaliatory Firing
A Michigan body shop worker who claimed he was fired from a body shop for threatening to file complaints about painting operations with MIOSHA is entitled to an $80,000 jury award, a three-member appellate panel rules. By Dennis Pelham, Daily Telegram (Adrian, Mich.)
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