Workers’ Comp Executive has confirmed that Republican Phil Kurzner has dropped out of the race for insurance commissioner. Kurzner’s withdrawal virtually assures there will be no primary and that Steve Poizner is the Republican nominee. Kurzner, with support from the ultra right wing was in a position to post a strong showing against Poizner. But …
Renowned California workers’ comp expert Mark Webb has joined Employers Direct Insurance Company as Vice President/Governmental Relations. Webb was recruited from American International Group where he was, until last Friday, Assistant General Counsel and director of State Affairs for the Western United States. He will report directly to Jim Little, CEO and Chair of the …
Employers will benefit from a projected savings in claims costs of $15.0 billion for policies incepting in 2006. This is in comparison to what costs might have been absent the California workers’ comp reforms. This is according to the study done by Bickmore Risk Services and just released by the Division of Workers’ Compensation. In …
State Compensation Insurance Fund is planning to terminate its Preferred Provider Network in April and instead using physicians from Blue Cross and Kaiser Workers’ Comp Executive has confirmed. The decision appears to be the result of a lawsuit SCIF lost. State Fund is the largest claims payer in California workers compensation and the decision has …
In one of the first setbacks for employers regarding the proper amount of permanent disability, the California Fifth District Court of Appeals ruled that a Workers’ Compensation Judge was correct in allowing the monetary amount from a previous disability as opposed to the percentage to be subtracted from the new disability. The case, E.J. Gallo …
In a partial win for at least one employer caught up in the California workers’ compensation insolvencies, a California Department of Insurance Hearing Judge has ruled in Star Roofing Company Inc. v. Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau that the Bureau must accept accurate experience data generated by an insolvent carrier for a policy year even …
As promised, the Division of Workers’ Compensation releases a draft of proposed regulations regarding repackaged drugs for consideration with an advisory committee meeting planned to hash out the details. A regulatory solution may help slay a major cost driver and avert another legislative showdown on the issue this coming year. The draft regulation says in …
Indemnity claims receiving treatment, number of visits, and the average payments per claim are all down following the changes made by the workers’ comp reforms to overall utilization, according to research by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute. This includes fee schedule changes and treatment guidelines. CWCI did its study based on 303,000 open and closed …