California legislators returned to Sacramento this week for the final weeks of the session with a hefty load of bills to work through. The measures of interest to the workers’ comp community include bills to enhance anti-fraud efforts, hold carriers accountable for correcting problems, and enact staffing industry reforms. Already off the table were controversial …
The California Department of Insurance is being asked to adjudicate a workers’ comp premium dispute over payments that drivers receive from Uber through a third-party vehicle leasing arrangement. The State …
Acting on the advice of the California Department of Insurance’s actuary, the Insurance Commissioner approved a 6.6% increase in California’s workers’ comp advisory pure premium rates. The approved rate was 3.8 points below what the insurance industry requested and 1.8 points above what an independent actuary representing employers and organized labor recommended. “While the indicated …
Employer hopes to see a comprehensive workers’ comp reform package enacted before Gavin Newsom is termed out of office have faded, but discussions over what is and is not working in the system are ongoing. Labor, too, will have to do without a permanent disability benefit increase for another year. The Commission on Health, Safety …
The California Department of Insurance is proposing updates to the regulations governing grant funding programs that fight fraud in workers’ compensation, automobile, disability, and healthcare insurance. The regulations haven’t been updated in decades. Tens of millions of dollars are awarded annually to county district attorneys (see related story on page 6). The Department will hold …
A homeowner will be facing a civil lawsuit filed by an unlicensed contractor who was injured on her property. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court decision granting summary judgment in favor of the homeowner. The decision in Luis Gonzalez v. Jessie Washington stems from injuries Gonzalez sustained when he fell from …
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara effectively split the baby and approved the second consecutive increase in California’s workers’ comp advisory pure premium rates. In a decision released late Friday afternoon, the …
The 2025 market share totals are out, and the State Compensation Insurance Fund is no longer the largest writer of workers’ comp insurance in California. State Fund’s writings last year dropped below $1 billion, and AmTrust Financial Services Group surpassed it. AmTrust increased its premium by 12% to become the largest carrier in the California …