Increased Disputes Aside, California Formulary ‘On Track’ to Reduce Frictional Costs

• 03/22/19
• Nancy Grover

Oakland, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) - There’s some good news and not as good news in the latest research out of California. The recently implemented workers’ compensation prescription ...

Lyft, Uber Say Reclassification of Workers Would Impact Business

• 03/22/19
• Liz Carey

San Francisco, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Both Lyft and Uber, the country’s two largest ride sharing companies, say changing the classification of their drivers would negatively impact their business ...

MEDVAL Acquired by Brown & Brown Subsidiary

• 03/22/19
• Nancy Grover

Daytona Beach, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) - Insurance brokerage firm Brown & Brown announced one of its subsidiaries, The Advocator Group has acquired MEDVAL, which provides Medicare Secondary Provider-compliant services. According ...

Report: Federal Black Lung Fund Threatened

• 03/21/19
• Liz Carey

Coeburn, VA (WorkersCompensation.com) – A tax increase that was not renewed during the budget showdown in January 2019 may mean the depletion of a fund designed to help coal miners who have contracted black lung disease on the ...

Aging Workforce Requires Employers to Step Up

• 03/21/19
• F.J. Thomas

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – More of the population is retiring at a later age according to a 2017 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In 2014, the number of workers aged 55 and older was 40 percent. ...

2019 Marijuana Statute in Florida

• 03/22/19
• Judge David Langham

The Florida Legislature has passed CS/CS/CS/SB182 (committee substitute for Senate Bill 182), and it has been signed into law. This amends section 381.986, Fla. Stat. There has been significant news coverage of this change on platforms such as ...

MSP Compliance Continues to be Placed at the Forefront

• 03/21/19
• Jean S. Goldstein

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland issued a press release concerning a settlement arrangement involving the repayment of conditional payments ...

Rousmaniere: How Many Work Injuries Don’t We See?

• 03/20/19
• Peter Rousmaniere

Some problems don’t jump out at you so much as lurk.  At the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute’s conference in Phoenix in February, two speakers hit upon the same worry creeping around the edges ...

Reasonable Fee May be No Fee

• 03/18/19
• Judge David Langham

An interesting decision of the Federal District Court for the Northern District was rendered in November 2018. The connection of that decision to workers' compensation may not be obvious to some. However, it determines attorney fees, which in a ...

MSPRP E-Payments Go Live On April 1, 2019

• 03/15/19
• Jean S. Goldstein

On Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held a high level overview webinar of changes coming to the Medicare Secondary Payer Recovery Portal (MSPRP), as we recently discussed here on our blog.  The ...

Cal/OSHA Cites Contractor Following Accident that Crushed Worker

• 03/21/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

American Canyon, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) - Cal/OSHA has cited a Bay Area contractor for serious safety violations after a worker was fatally crushed at a San Rafael construction site on September 18, ...

Vermont Superior Court Rules in Favor of State in Opioids Case

• 03/21/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

Montpelier, VY (WorkersCompensation.com) - The Chittenden Superior Court has denied Purdue Pharma’s motion to dismiss the State’s case against it. The judge ruled that the State may bring all ...

Study Explores Link Between Farm Machinery Vibration and Workers’ Back Pain

• 03/21/19
• National Safety Council

Iowa City, IA — A NIOSH-funded study of farm machinery found that the machine operators experienced whole-body vibration at levels that reached the European Union’s “action ...

$1,326,367 Penalty after Ohio Company Willfully Exposes Employees to Dangerous Hazards

• 03/21/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

Bowling Green, OH (WorkersCompensation.com) - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties of $1,326,367 to Dowa ...

OH: Montgomery County to Receive $139K Under BWC Drug Workplace Safety Program

• 03/21/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

Columbus, OH (WorkersCompensation.com) - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and BWC Administrator/CEO Stephanie McCloud announced today that Montgomery County will receive more than $139,000 this week ...

For Ohio BWC, Headline Accuracy Matters

• 03/22/19
• Robert Wilson

As a publisher of news content, I appreciate the challenges of getting content out in a relative and timely manner. I understand that the author of the article may not be the one who selects its headline or title. But I also think that ...

Boning up For Best Blogs 2019

• 03/20/19
• Robert Wilson

Our annual Best Blogs Contest is once again just around the corner, and I suppose I better start tidying up around here if I want to be part of it. Launched in 2016, the WorkersCompensation.com Best Blogs Contest is a program recognizing blogs that ...

Tennessee Sausage Strategy is Something to Emulate

• 03/18/19
• Robert Wilson

The forming of policy, regulations and law in the world of workers’ compensation can be an intricate process. No matter the area of the law, they say that the making of regulatory and legislative content is like the making of ...

Attitude is Everything, Even When It's Not

• 03/12/19
• Robert Wilson

I spent this past weekend in the Four Corners area of Colorado and New Mexico, visiting my 99-year-old father. He unfortunately took a fall in early January, and while his injury, a broken coccyx, would’ve been painful but ...

Fatal News Is a Kick in the Groin for Telehealth

• 03/11/19
• Robert Wilson

No doubt about it. Telehealth is all the rage and presents tremendous potential for expanding access to quality care for a multitude of patients. The technology, which connects patients and physicians via high speed video connections, ...

Protecting Medicare's Past Interests (How Securing Medicare Lien Resolution Will Help Protect Dwindling Medicare Trust Funds)

• 03/22/19
• Natt Reifler, JD

During the 21 years between 1980 and 2001, it is no secret that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) did very little to enforce the ...

The ERISA Lien -- A Federal "Partner" In State Workers’ Compensation Litigation

• 03/22/19
• Alfred Vitarelli

If the workers’ compensation practitioner reading this otherwise dry blog finds his/her mind wandering to more exciting topics, let your mind focus on that ominous line from the 1987 ...

2019 Louisiana Labor Summit Includes Special Presentation on Rapid Response

• 03/22/19
• Louisiana Comp Blog

The 2019 Louisiana Labor Summit, which is taking place from March 19th-22nd in New Orleans, features a variety of topics about Workforce Commission activities and economic development potential in our ...

Rest Assured: Quality Sleep Supports Recovery From Brain Injury

• 03/22/19
• Elizabeth Sandel, MD

A good night’s rest benefits mental and physical health. The body’s normal healing and restoration processes during sleep are crucial for recovery, particularly after brain injury. With one-third of ...

The Violent Act Exception

• 03/21/19
• Julius Young

How has the law been developing on the “violent act” exception to California Labor Code 4660.1(c)(1)? That’s an issue I had occasion to look at recently as I prepared for a presentation on a panel with defense attorney Jake Jacobsmeyer at the ...

For Ohio BWC, Headline Accuracy Matters

• 03/22/19
• Robert Wilson

As a publisher of news content, I appreciate the challenges of getting content out in a relative and timely manner. I understand that the author of the article may not be the one who selects its headline or title. But I also think that ...

OH: Montgomery County to Receive $139K Under BWC Drug Workplace Safety Program

• 03/21/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

Columbus, OH (WorkersCompensation.com) - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and BWC Administrator/CEO Stephanie McCloud announced today that Montgomery County will receive more than $139,000 this week ...

MEDVAL Acquired by Brown & Brown Subsidiary

• 03/22/19
• Nancy Grover

Daytona Beach, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) - Insurance brokerage firm Brown & Brown announced one of its subsidiaries, The Advocator Group has acquired MEDVAL, which provides Medicare Secondary Provider-compliant services. ...

Cal/OSHA Cites Contractor Following Accident that Crushed Worker

• 03/21/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

American Canyon, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) - Cal/OSHA has cited a Bay Area contractor for serious safety violations after a worker was fatally crushed at a San Rafael construction site on September 18, ...

$1,326,367 Penalty after Ohio Company Willfully Exposes Employees to Dangerous Hazards

• 03/21/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

Bowling Green, OH (WorkersCompensation.com) - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties of $1,326,367 to Dowa ...

F.J. Thomas

F.J. Thomas has worked in healthcare business for more than fifteen years in Tennessee. Her experience as a contract appeals analyst has given her an intimate grasp of the inner workings of both the provider and insurance world. Knowing first hand ...

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Toni Sutton

Toni Sutton is a freelance writer from Brooklyn, NY now based in San Diego, CA. She’s been writing for more than 10 years covering topics from business, technology, health, and everything in between. When she’s not hunting for a great story or that ...

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Bob Wilson

Bob Wilson is the CEO of WorkersCompensation.com, and author of the award winning blog, "From Bob's Cluttered Desk". Bob is an accomplished presenter for the workers' comp industry, and we are lucky to have him. We don't ...

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Terry Bogyo

Terry is an active researcher, speaker and commentator on workers compensation issues. Now retired, he was the Director of Corporate Planning and Development for WorkSafeBC. His responsibilities included environmental scanning, strategic planning ...

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Peter Rousmaniere

Peter Rousmaniere is widely known throughout the workers’ compensation industry, both for his writing and consulting experience. Based in the picture perfect New England town of Woodstock, VT, he is a regular on the conference circuit, and is deeply ...

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Judge David Langham

David Langham is the Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims for the Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims at the Division of Administrative Hearings. He has been involved in workers’ compensation for over 25 years as an attorney, an ...

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Chriss Swaney

Chriss Swaney is a freelance reporter who has written for Antique Trader Magazine, Reuters, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, the Burlington Free Press, UPI, The Tribune-Review and the Daily Record.

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Liz Carey

Liz Carey has worked as a writer, reporter and editor for nearly 25 years. First, as an investigative reporter for Gannett and later as the Vice President of a local Chamber of Commerce, Carey has covered everything from local government to the ...

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Nancy Grover

Nancy Grover is the Director, Media Services for WorkersCompensation.com. She comes to our company with more than 35 years as a broadcast journalist and communications consultant. Grover’s specialties include insurance, workers’ compensation, ...

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Bruce Burk

Bruce Burk is an experienced workers' compensation defense attorney located in South Florida. He has also worked in civil litigation and criminal defense, handling more than 40 trials, both jury and non-jury. Burk received his law degree from ...

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Heather Schwartz Sanderson

Heather Schwartz Sanderson, Esq., MSCC, CHPE, CLMP, CMSP Heather is Chief Legal Officer for Franco Signor LLC, the nation's compliance authority for Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) matters. She has lectured on MSP compliance to the workers’ ...

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Jon Coppelman

Since 1990 Jon Coppelman has trained thousands of business owners from Main Street to Fortune 500 on the fundamentals of workers’ compensation cost control. From 2006 to 2012 he was a principal writer for the Workers’ Comp Insider, LynchRyan’s ...

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