Quote of the day
"We're disappointed that it didn't include a permanent fix."
Kenneth J. Pokalsky, senior director of government affairs, Business Council of New York, about legislation that will charge solvent group trusts for the liabilities of failed trusts
New York Lawmakers Approve Short-Term Workers’ Comp Fix
New York legislators pass a bill intended to keep money flowing for workers’ comp claims in the wake of the recent failure of seven self-insured trusts administered by Compensation Risk Managers LLC. The bill allows the state Workers’ Compensation Board to borrow $52 million from the Fund for Uninsured Employers to pay the claims of the CRM trusts as well as of four others that have failed since 2006. By Mary Beth Pfeiffer, Poughkeepsie Journal
Go to the Full Story…
Opinion: Quick Fix Imperils Small Businesses in New York
The executive vice president of the New York State Association of Health Care Providers Inc. argues that, without intervention by the state legislature, fiscally responsible trusts will be forced to pay assessments that they cannot afford to finance the misdeeds of others. By Christine L. Johnston via Albany Times-Union
Go to the Full Story…
Garden State Lawmakers Overwhelmingly Approve Reforms
A package of bills that make the first significant changes in nearly three decades to New Jersey’s $1.8 billion workers’ compensation system wins final legislative approval. A series of April articles in the Newark Star-Ledger, about how red tape affects injured workers who are awaiting benefits, spurred the measures. By Dunstan McNichol, Newark Star-Ledger
Go to the Full Story…
Audit Finds Violations in Florida County’s Workers’ Comp Program
An audit of the Hernando County, Fla.’s workers’ compensation program unearths violations of county policy, inefficiencies and missing information on financial decisions that may have cost the county thousands of dollars. Many of the concerns about workers’ comp surround the county’s contract with a third-party administrator. By Barbara Behrendt, St. Petersburg Times
Go to the Full Story…
Insurer Denies Pennsylvania Heart Attack-Stricken Firefighter’s Claim
A volunteer firefighter with the Wilson, Pa., Fire Company who suffered a heart attack at the scene of a fire is denied workers’ compensation by the State Workers’ Insurance Fund. By Charles Schillinger, Scranton Times-Tribune
Go to the Full Story…
Keystone State Woman Accused of Fraud in New York
New York authorities charge a Pennsylvania woman with fraud for allegedly collecting $10,700 in workers’ compensation benefits while working at a hotel for more than a year, six years after her purported disabling injury.
Go to the full story in WETM-TV (Elmira)
Go to the full story in News10Now.com (Syracuse)
Nonprofit Yonkers Development Firm Fined Nearly $30K
A nonprofit local development corporation set up by Yonkers, N.Y., city officials to spur a street’s redevelopment faces $28,750 in fines for allegedly failing to purchase workers’ comp insurance. By Ernie Garcia, Journal News
Go to the Full Story…
WTC Workers, Volunteers Urged to Register as Deadline Looms
People who were employed or who volunteered in World Trade Center operations in the year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks must register their service with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board in order to remain eligible for future workers’ comp benefits, if necessary. Firehouse.com
Go to the Full Story…
Virginia Pastor Admits Workers’ Comp Fraud
A Culpeper, Va., pastor pleads guilty to 20 felonies, including filing fraudulent workers compensation documents, and faces a maximum punishment of 310 years in jail and a $50,000 fine. WVIR-TV (Charlottesville)
Go to the Full Story…