Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines

All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

No Workers’ Comp for Employee Injured When Vehicle Crashed Through Her Office Wall

Jun 28 2024 // An employee at the Virginia Department of Health who was seriously injured when a vehicle crashed through the wall of her first floor office is not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.The Virginia...

Massachusetts Orders 14.6% Cut in Workers’ Compensation Rates

Jun 27 2024 // Massachusetts businesses will see an average 14.6% reduction in workers’ compensation rates—a cut that is almost twice the size of what the insurance industry’s rating bureau proposed in its filing. The lower...

Report: Nearly All California Worker’s Comp IMR Filings Were Eligible for Review

Jun 26 2024 // Nearly all independent medical review filings were deemed eligible for review last year, slightly less than the annual percentage for those filed in 2022, according to California Division of Workers’...

Alabama Company Pays $81,000 OSHA Fine After Worker’s Fatal Fall

Jun 25 2024 // The U.S. Department of Labor has fined an Alabama mobile home manufacturer more than $81,000 after a worker without fall protection slipped and fell to his death last November.The department’s Occupational Safety and...

Cal/OSHA Board Adopts Workplace Standard for Indoor Heat

Jun 25 2024 // A California workplace safety oversight board adopted a new standard for indoor workplaces to enact safety measures when the temperature reaches 87°F.The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved an indoor...

Excessive Heat An Increasing Concern in Workers Comp: WCRI

Jun 20 2024 // With temperatures pushing above 90 degrees in parts of the Midwest and Northeast United States this week, many American workers are clocking in during what AccuWeather described as an “intense heat wave that is...

California Workers’ Comp Institute Examines Presumption for Ag Heat Injuries

Jun 18 2024 // A bill that would give a presumption of compensability to farmworker heat-related injury claims if an employer is found to be out of compliance with Cal/OSHA’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard would likely...

OSHA Cites Contractor 32 Times in 4 Months for Alleged Deadly Fall Hazards

Jun 14 2024 // Federal officials say a New Jersey construction contractor with a history of ignoring federal fall safety standards has again been found exposing employees to potentially deadly fall hazards in eight work site...

Employee Who Was Trapped in Elevator Denied Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Jun 13 2024 // A health insurance company employee who was trapped in an elevator for about 30 minutes has been denied workers’ compensation benefits.The employee did not suffer any physical injury while she was trapped in the...

Workers’ Comp Fraud Task Force Uncovers $30M Scheme in California

Jun 12 2024 // A pair of businessmen were arraigned on multiple felony counts including insurance fraud, grand theft, and tax fraud after a California Department of Insurance investigation found they allegedly underreported over $29.2...

Tech Update: USI’s Tech-Enabled Risk Control Platform; Baldwin Group Starts API-Connected Cyber Placements; AI-Based Workers Comp Fraud Detection at CLARA

Jun 6 2024 // USI Insurance Services (USI) announced the launch of PATH (patent pending), a proprietary technology-enabled risk control platform for clients.The new platform leverages industry-specific benchmark data to generate...

Private Equity Firm Invests in Injured Worker Case Manager Allegiant Medical Care

Jun 6 2024 // Council Capital, a healthcare-focused private equity firm, has acquired Allegiant Managed Care, a nurse case management company providing services within workers’ compensation and other property/casualty insurance...

Kansas Workers’ Comp Bill Increases Some Benefits, Streamlines Processes

Jun 3 2024 // Kansas Governor Laura Kelly last week signed Senate Bill 430, bipartisan legislation making comprehensive reforms to the state’s workers compensation system.The bill, a result of collaboration between business and...

Report: Cost of Prescriptions in Workers’ Comp on The Rise

Jun 3 2024 // While overall utilization is trending downward, cost of prescriptions in workers’ compensation is on the rise, driven by “high-dollar topical agents” that primarily come from out-of-network channels, as...

US Workers’ Comp Line Still Showing Strong Profits, Lower Claim Frequency

Jun 3 2024 // Net written premium in the U.S. workers’ compensation insurance market grew by just 1% from 2022 to 2023, a far smaller percentage than most other property/casualty lines.However, the workers’ compensation line...

California Trucker Death Led to Workers’ Comp Investigation That Found $2M in Underreported Payroll

Jun 3 2024 // An investigation that began after an employee was found dead in a company owned semi-truck led to the arraignment of a California man on three felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud.Heigo Kubar, 84, of Fresno,...

Roofing Contractor to Contest OSHA Citations After Employee’s Fatal Fall

May 27 2024 // The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has determined that a Massachusetts roofing contractor again violated federal regulations for fall protections, following an investigation into how an employee fell...

Dean Denied Workers’ Compensation for Injury From ‘Walking and Turning’ in Hallway

May 22 2024 // A community college dean who was injured when she fell after she turned in a hallway to address a colleague is not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, the Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled.Mary Pat...

Cal/OSHA Beefing Up Safety Enforcement to Protect Workers Against Silicosis

May 21 2024 // California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health reports seeing growing number of silicosis cases among stone workers in California, and the agency is launching efforts to beef up its enforcement efforts.Since...

Workers’ Compensation Bars Doctor Who Was Shot at New York Hospital From Suing

May 20 2024 // New York’s highest court has ruled that a doctor who was injured in a shooting at the hospital where he works cannot sue his employer, finding that his injuries arose out of his employment and are thus covered by...