Quote of the day
"If one of those physicians leaves, the scale is tipped and the area becomes underserved."
Scott Ekblad, director of the Oregon Office of Rural Health, in connection with reports that funds from workers' comp premiums that were intended to keep doctors in rural areas were misdirected to doctors in better-served, urban areas
Go to the full story in the News-Register (McMinnville, Ore.)
Biggest Ripoff of Sept. 11 Fund Yet
A 39-year-old New Jersey painter who claims he was permanently disabled by injuries he suffered in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks faces charges that he defrauded the Victim Compensation Fund of $1.07 million. By Larry Neumeister, AP via Washington Post
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In Oregon, Funds Reportedly Misdirected to Urban Physicians
Millions of dollars of state money, which came from the assessment employers pay on workers’ compensation premiums, that was intended to keep doctors in rural Oregon reportedly has gone instead to physicians in areas that are well-served by modern hospitals. By AP via News-Register (McMinnville, Ore.)
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Jailed Jersey Political Fundraiser Faces Workers’ Comp Charges
A fundraiser of former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey who is currently serving prison time for extorting money from a farmer is indicted for failing to pay workers’ compensation for employees at his wood recycling business.
Go to the full story by Rick Hepp, Newark Star-Ledger
Go to the full story in the Home News Tribune (East Brunswick, N.J.)
View from the Blog: Repugnant Policy
Workplace health and safety blogger and former Fed-OSHA staffer Jordan Barab discusses the apparently growing practice of insurers denying workers’ compensation to illegal aliens who are injured on the job. Confined Space
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Spitzer Offers Workers’ Comp Reform Plan
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, on the gubernatorial campaign trail, floats his plan for reforming the Empire State’s costly workers’ compensation system: creating an inspector general for comp fraud; establishing retraining programs to speed return-to-work; possibly imposing a time limit on partial disability payments. By Jacob Gershman, New York Sun
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No. 2 South Korean Insurer to Write Comp in Hawaii
South Korea’s second-largest insurer, Dongbu Insurance Company Inc., is the first foreign company to take advantage of Hawaii’s port of entry law to conduct insurance business in the United States. The company line includes workers’ compensation insurance in the Hawaii market. KPUA Radio (Hilo)
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Noe’s Lawyers Want Audit Thrown Out
Attorneys for indicted Ohio businessman Tom Noe, who is accused of pilfering more than $2 million from rare-coin funds he managed on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, are trying to get a special audit of their client and his businesses excluded from his trial. They also want the jury sequestered for the entire trial, which could run longer than two months. By Mike Wilkinson, Toledo Blade [With Photos] Go to the Full Story…
Opinion: NSW Workers’ Comp System Lacks Rule of Law
New South Wales’ workers’ compensation system lacks predictability, consistency or protection from the decisions of government. Small businesses, which generally don’t self-insure the way larger employers do, are being preyed upon by WorkCover, the government agency that runs the program. By Michael Duffy, Sydney Morning Herald
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CPI Miscalculation Shafted Newfoundland Workers
Some injured workers in Newfoundland who claimed long-term disability have been short-changed in the amount of compensation they received because of an error in calculating consumer price index adjustments since 1994. Although some workers received retroactive compensation and interest last year, some died before the mistake was discovered in a claim review. By Canadian Press via OHS Canada
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