The surge in cumulative trauma claims in California’s workers’ comp system is having a ripple effect across the claims environment. Members of the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s actuarial committee heard earlier this month that the rise in CT claims is also driving up the number of liens and use of compromise and release (C&Rs) …
A mental health treatment center is disputing a $104,000 audit bill from its workers’ comp carrier for premiums related to payments made to certain individuals who received 1099 statements. The …
A startup company focused on converting plastic waste into construction materials withdrew the appeal it filed with the California Department of Insurance’s Administrative Hearing Bureau after a disputed classification assignment …
The owner and sole employee of a company cannot proceed with a lawsuit against the company’s workers’ comp carrier for breach of contract until the owner’s underlying workers’ comp claim is resolved. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s stay in the case alleging the carrier fraudulently denied temporary disability payments. Calvin …
California employers continue to experience higher costs than most other states. The cost of workers’ comp is no exception, even though employers in California saw a 10.9% decrease in workers’ comp costs over a recent five-year period, according to a just-released analysis by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). Employers nationwide, however, saw an …
A proposal to help insurance carriers fight workers’ comp fraud will not be moving forward this session. The measure would have given carriers access to employers’ payroll records to crack down on premium fraud, but the Assembly Appropriations Committee did not advance the bill because of cost concerns. The bill would have created a cumbersome …
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 Compensation Insurance Fund considers the payments payroll and is demanding premium from the leasing company, but the insured, Losy LLC, argues that the drivers are …