No sooner does one workers’ comp profit center get whacked, then another takes its place. The latest: drug screening tests, specifically for testing injured workers being treated for chronic pain. Medical experts, employers and insurance carriers say that they’re starting to see the frequency of urine tests and lab work increase without justification, and usually …
Not one but two companies who are self-insured for workers’ compensation in California have filed for bankruptcy in the last two weeks and the Department of industrial Relations (DIR) through the Office of Self Insurance Plans (OSIP) is closely monitoring the situation in both cases. Both companies– Hostess parent Interstate Brands and Eastman Kodak – …
There are roughly 2,000 National Football League (NFL) claims against 32 teams active in California, which worst-case scenario could cost the team employers potentially hundreds of millions of dollars, and they all hinge on one question: whether professional athletes who play one game in California are entitled to collect benefits in California for injuries sustained …
The State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) has decided to remove its requirement that policyholders renew in order to get a dividend. The State Fund Board of directors resolved unanimously in a special board this morning to amend its plan after its original plan’s legality was questioned. The Board’s resolution reads in pertinent part: the Board …
Will Obamacare drive employers, especially those in high-risk industries, into the underground economy? Frank Neuhauser, executive director at the Center for the Study of Social Insurance, University of California, Berkeley, says the added cost of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) raises the possibility that more employers may cheat the system by finding ways to not …
Employers and insurance carriers say they pay $800 to $1,000 more than is reasonable and customary for copy services on a workers’ comp case, and it’s just gotten worse over the past few years. There is no fee schedule for copy services, and like other system costs in the past, such as transportation and repackaged drugs, …
A woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for stealing more than $200,000 from her employer, prominent insurance lobbying firm Norwood & Associates, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. Linda Marie Wells, 50, pled no contest to charges of grand theft, the DA says. Norwood & Associates represents numerous clients in …
Former CEO and president of CompWest Insurance Company Bill Mudge tells Workers’ Comp Executive that after the past seven years of working in the trenches of California workers’ comp, he’s ready for some time off. After the purchase of CWI Holdings by Accident Fund in 2007, Mudge says his eventual departure had always been in the …