26.4%

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said crop insurance companies posted profits of 26.4 percent last year, and the federal government wants to reduce its spending on crop insurance. Participating farmers pay premiums but the government subsidizes the program to keep it affordable. Last year, it paid crop insurers $3.8 billion. The USDA first proposed cutting $8.4 billion in spending on crop insurance over 10 years but revised that amount to $6.9 billion. A study done for the Risk Management Agency found the crop insurance industry’s profit in 2009 was the second-highest in 21 years, and more than double the 10.7 percent the agency considered “reasonable” for last year.

Milk Specialties Co. in Whitehall, Wis., agreed to pay $535,000 in penalties as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration after being cited with willful, repeat and serious violations concerning combustible dust hazards, untrained employees working in potentially dangerous areas and a lack of proper permits for working in confined spaces. OSHA said untrained employees entered confined spaces and performed maintenance and cleaning on powered equipment without protection from various hazards. Serious citations addressed combustible dust and electrical hazards; lack of exit route lighting and signage; lack of confined space evaluations; uninspected fire extinguishers; and untrained and uncertified powered industrial truck operators, among other issues. Repeat violations related to guarding floor and wall openings, ladders and respiratory protection, and other issues addressed in previous inspections.

37%

The cost per claim of prescription drugs used to treat injured workers in Michigan is the lowest among 16 states studied. According to the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), the average payment per claim for prescription drugs in Michigan’s workers’ compensation system was $261 – 37 percent lower than the median. The main reasons for the lower prescription costs in Michigan include lower prices paid to pharmacies for some commonly used medications, fewer prescriptions for brand names when generic equivalents or alternatives were available, and fewer prescriptions per claim.