Quote of the day
"Clearly, the sense of urgency was not there."
Keary McCarthy, Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation spokesman, regarding the bureau's efforts to determine what personal information of injured workers existed on a laptop computer stolen from an employee's home
Go to the full story by Laura A. Bischoff, Middletown Bureau
Ohio BWC: Computer with Workers’ Personal Data Stolen
A laptop computer, which nearly a month ago was stolen from the garage of an Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation auditor who had been examining self-insured employers, contained names, Social Security numbers, and other personal information on 439 injured workers, the BWC reveals. The computer —possibly including medical diagnoses—had been missing two weeks before the agency began to investigate what information it might have contained.
Go to the full story by Jim Provance, Toledo Blade
Go to the full story by Laura A. Bischoff, Middletown Bureau
South Carolina Comp Reforms Get Gov’s Nod
Gov. Mark Sanford signs the General Assembly-approved workers’ compensation reform bill. The new law provides for fines and prison time for scofflaw employers, defines some injuries and clarifies how much can be paid for shoulder or hip injuries. By Jim Davenport, AP via Daily Comet (Thibodaux, La.)
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BrickStreet’s Growing Pains Rile Some Policyholders
BrickStreet Mutual, the successor to the state-run West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, is the sole provider of workers’ comp insurance in West Virginia until July 1, 2008. That’s not good news for the critics who say the insurer has blown off scheduled meetings and changed the installment payment structure without notice. By George Hohmann, Charleston Gazette
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Utah WCF Takes Advantage of National Safety Month
June is National Safety Month, and the Utah Workers Compensation Fund is pointing to the value of safety efforts in recent years, which the agency says has helped lower accident rates and reduce the number of workplace deaths. Charles Pugh, the fund’s vice president of safety, notes that the typical workplace injury costs a company $5,500. By Brianna Lange, Salt Lake Tribune
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Recent State Activities in Workers’ Comp
The last round of widespread reform legislation started in the late 1980s, but some states now are approaching a crisis again as new problems arise in their workers’ compensation systems. By Austin Childs and Jason Foster via Waldo County (Maine) Citizen
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AmTrust Financial to Acquire Comp Manager Associated Industries
Shares of specialty property and casualty insurer AmTrust Financial Services Inc. hit a 52-week high on Monday after it agrees to acquire workers’ compensation management agency Associated Industries Insurance Services Inc. for about $41.2 million. Yahoo! Finance
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Workers’ Comp Payments Decline in Louisiana
The average medical payment for injured workers in Louisiana fell 4 percent from 2003 to 2004 but remains higher than other states examined, according to a study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. Before the 4 percent decrease, Louisiana’s medical payment costs had increased around 8 percent each year for several years. WBRZ-TV – The Advocate (Baton Rouge)
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