Quote of the day
"It's bureaucracy at its worst. The governor says West Virginia is 'open for business.' How can we be open for business when they just raised workers' comp rates 82 percent?"
Ed Hess, Charleston, W.V. contractor; Gov. Joe Manchin announced on June 14 that many employers' rates would go down 10 percent on July 1
Self-Insured Groups Work to Lessen Their Tax Burden
Self-insured groups (SIGs) eager to reduce employers’ tax burden and the confidence level in their ability to pay claims are close enough to taste a legislative solution. What problems do SIGs face, and what are the solutions? Get all the details in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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L.A. County Focuses Fraud-Fighting Efforts on Diagnostic Centers
Los Angeles County law enforcement and the district attorney’s office are setting their sights on Phony Diagnostic Centers and what looks like a new kind of scam. Both injured workers and carriers are victimized. So far it has cost carriers and self-insureds millions. Get all the details in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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Court Order Shuts Down California Immigrant Supply Firm in Hawaii
Los Angeles-based Global Horizons Inc., which supplies migrant workers from Thailand and the Philippines, shuts down its Hawaii operations in response to a Hawaii Circuit Court order for allegedly failing to provide workers’ compensation insurance or proper housing to farm workers. The temporary shutdown has affected more than 100 employees and disrupted operations at 10 farms.
Go to the full story by Dan Nakaso, Honolulu Advertiser
Go to the full story in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
CompWest Insurance Company: New Model for a New Market
A post-SB 899 insurance carrier with its infrastructure entirely in the state of California, CompWest Insurance Company has a recipe for success that works for every stakeholder in the California workers’ comp system. Get all the details in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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CSLB Warns Homeowners About Unlicensed Contractors
The Contractors State License Board in Sacramento, which recently conducted a sting operation targeting unlicensed contractors in San Luis Obispo County, warns homeowners looking for home improvement laborers about the risks involved with hiring unlicensed contractors, who rarely carry workers’ compensation insurance. By Frank Nelson, Santa Barbara News-Press via San Luis Obispo Tribune
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Workers’ Comp Carriers Get No Bankruptcy Priority
The United States Supreme Court doesn’t often wade into workers’ comp waters but recently handed down a decision dealing with workers’ comp and its place in the hierarchy of bankruptcy. Industry experts are far from agreement on the impact. Get details on the case and what it will mean for workers’ comp carriers, all in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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Delaware Gov. Threatens Special Session over Reform Bill
Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner warns lawmakers that she will call them back into special session repeatedly this summer until they pass a comprehensive workers compensation reform bill. But the Republican House majority leader says the bill lacks the votes needed to pass the House, even if it clears the Democrat-led state Senate. By Randall Chase, AP via News Journal (Wilmington, Del.)
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Millhollon Hopes to Reinvigorate CSIA
Having been at the helm of the California Self-Insurers Association for seven months, Executive Director Phil Millhollon has gotten his feet wet and is now ready to take CSIA in a new direction. Find out what his plans are in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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Staffing Service Demands Workers’ Comp Records
A Madison, Wisc. staffing service files a lawsuit alleging that the Wisconsin state insurance commissioner’s office and the Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau secretly approved new rules and refused to turn over public records. The suit asks a judge to find the rules invalid and order the records released. By AP via Duluth News Tribune
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Calendar Year Numbers on the Uptick for the California Workers’ Comp Market
After being beaten and thrown around from 1999 to 2002, California workers’comp carriers finally are crawling out of the red, but happy days are not necessarily here again. Find out what the numbers say and what they mean, in the current print edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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Mountain State Builders Decry Rate Spike, Lack of Notice
West Virginia homebuilders complain that they barely received notice of an oppressive 85 percent hike in the cost of their workers’ compensation insurance. Charleston Daily Mail
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South Carolina Workers’ Comp Case Could Be Reopened
A judge deciding whether to approve a nearly 33 percent increase in workers’ compensation rates may be asked to reopen the case. Opponents of the increase have learned the Insurance Department did not disclose overcharges based on faulty data. By AP via Myrtle Beach Sun
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A Few Workers’ Comp Bills Make It to the Semifinals
Despite the legislature’s lack of interest in workers’ comp this year, a smattering of bills have almost made it to the qualifying round. Some actually help. Others? Well, find out who still wants to tweak and roll back, and what the governor is likely to sign, all in the current edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
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Canada Union Demands Compensation for Cancer-Stricken Miners
Newfoundland asbestos miners who have contracted work-related cancers need compensation more than they need another health study, says their union, which contends that the suggestion of a study only makes it look like the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission is waiting for former miners to die. BBC News Newfoundland and Labrador [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Fourteen Now Charged in Noe/BWC Scandal
The number of people charged in the political scandal centering around Tom Noe, the central figure in the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation rare coin investment scandal, also known as “Coingate,” reaches 14. Akron Beacon Journal
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