Oklahoma Court Decision May Spark More Suits Against Employers

• 06/19/19
• Nancy Grover

Oklahoma City, OK (WorkersCompensation.com) – The Oklahoma Supreme Court has effectively expanded the definition of ‘intentional tort’ in occupational injury cases. The decision appears to open the way ...

LA Lake Closed After Lifeguards Develop Bacterial Reaction

• 06/19/19
• Liz Carey

Los Angeles, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – The Los Angeles Aquatics Division of the Department of Recreation and Parks has suspended all water activities at a popular recreation facility after lifeguards fell sick after ...

Maine's Governor Signs WC Legislation

• 06/19/19
• Nancy Grover

Augusta, ME (WorkersCompensation.com) – Changes are coming to Maine’s workers’ compensation system, albeit not as many as initially proposed earlier this year. Gov. Janet Mills signed An Act to Improve the Maine ...

Birmingham Craft Beer ‘Pioneer’ Forced To Shut Down for Failing to Provide Proof of WC

• 06/18/19
• Toni Sutton-Deangelico

Birmingham, AL (WorkersCompensation.com) - The Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) recently filed a lawsuit against a Birmingham pub and restaurant for failure to provide workers’ ...

Florida Resort Company Owes Back Pay To Employees Who Were Unlawfully Employed

• 06/18/19
• Toni Sutton-Deangelico

Panama Beach City, FL (WorkerscCmpensation.com)-A company based in Panama City Beach, Fla., will have to pay $38,513 in back wages to 78 guest workers after an investigation by the U.S. Department ...

Rousmaniere: Reducing Surgery Risks: Are You Doing Enough?

• 06/19/19
• Peter Rousmaniere

For one-out-of-eight work injuries, doctors consider surgery as an option. One-third of lost time compensable claims involve one. I suggest we try to understand surgeries by looking at risks in perhaps a new way. The ...

Comp Laude Nominations

• 06/14/19
• Judge David Langham

What is good about workers' compensation? There are some who might decry that question, and respond with a firm and unequivocal "nothing." But they are wrong. There is so much going on in this community that is good, positive, and productive. David ...

Settlements with "Reasonably Expected" Medicare Beneficiaries: What are the WCMSA Requirements?

• 06/13/19
• Heather Schwartz Sanderson

Earlier this year, we blogged about CMS updating its WCMSA Reference Guide. Specifically, we pointed out that CMS for the first time included explicit examples in ...

Issuance of Medicare Part D Conditional Payment Letters Increasing

• 06/06/19
• Heather Schwartz Sanderson

Several of our clients have been experiencing an increase in conditional payment letters from Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. Historically, Part D plans have been less active in recovery of ...

Rousmaniere: What You Need To Know About Bitcoin Today

• 06/05/19
• Peter Rousmaniere

It will likely take at least 10 years until a digital currency such as bitcoin is adopted by the workers’ compensation industry in a serious way. I believe it will happen. Complexity, hype and speculation have obscured ...

CA: CHSWC Commissioner Mitch Steiger Appointed by the Senate

• 06/19/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

Oakland, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) - The Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) today announced the appointment of Mitch Steiger to the Commission. A total of eight (8) ...

Worker Safety Agencies Seemingly Spared from Executive Order on Reducing Advisory Groups

• 06/19/19
• National Safety Council

Washington, DC — President Donald Trump’s Executive Order calling for a significant cut in advisory committees appears to have little if any effect on workplace safety ...

CA: Custodian Pleads Guilty to Workers' Compensation Fraud

• 06/19/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

Ventura, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) - District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Garrett Moore (DOB 12/26/1983), of Simi Valley, was sentenced today after pleading guilty to a felony ...

CA: Truck Driver Pleads Guilty To Workers' Comp Fraud

• 06/19/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

Ventura, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) - District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Jaime Serna (DOB 1/29/1972), formerly of Fillmore, pied guilty to a felony violation of Insurance Code section ...

Maine Farmer Becomes Board Chair of The MEMIC Group

• 06/18/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

Portland, ME (WorkersCompensation.com) – From broccoli to the board room, Lance Smith has cultivated a reputation for collaboration, hard work and common sense. A partner in Smith’s Farm, the largest ...

Restoring the Death Penalty and Other Reasonable Solutions to Workers' Compensation Fraud

• 06/19/19
• Robert Wilson

Editor's Note: This is the third article in a week long series discussing workers’ compensation fraud. The first article in the series may be read here. There is one big problem ...

Breaking the Enigma Code of Workers' Comp Provider Fraud

• 06/18/19
• Robert Wilson

Editor's Note: This is the second in a week long series discussing workers’ compensation fraud. The first article in the series may be read here. In the early years of World War II, brilliant mathematician Alan ...

WCIRB: To Fight Fraud, We Must First Recognize It

• 06/17/19
• Robert Wilson

Editor's Note: This is the first of a weeklong series of articles related to workers' compensation fraud, generated from discussions at a recent conference of the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California. It was ...

WCIRB Reports on the Whale in Workers' Comp

• 06/13/19
• Robert Wilson

If workers’ compensation were an aquarium, most states would be a small to medium sized fish. A couple would be guppies. Some would be dolphins. Illinois would be a shark. And California would be a whale. Representing over 20% of ...

Do Your Comp Carrier's Interests Align with Yours?

• 06/12/19
• Robert Wilson

Monday, we wrote a piece about a man who had experienced a stroke on the job which was misdiagnosed by a company nurse. He applied for workers’ compensation benefits, but they were denied. Instead of appealing, he sued his ...

Gathering Steam?

• 06/19/19
• Julius Young

2019 looks like a very modest year for workers’ comp legislation. I’ll give a snapshot of what’s in the hopper in my coming mid-year recap of 2019 California workers’ comp developments. But are there big changes on the horizon? After all, ...

Jon Stewart Gives Emotional Plea in Support of 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund

• 06/19/19
• Justyn Needel

Last week, Jon Stewart gave a heartfelt speech to a near empty congress as he advocated for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). The comedian and activist painted a tragic yet ...

Florida Court: No-Fault Pre-Suit Notice Requirement Must Be Followed Before Medicare Private Cause Of Action Claim Can Proceed

• 06/19/19
• Mark Popolizio

Over the past several years, there has been an increasing number of lawsuits filed by Medicare Advantage Plans (MAPs) against insurers seeking “double ...

Transparency for Efficacy

• 06/19/19
• Judge David Langham

There are challenges with medical costs in America. For some reason, medical inflation has run well in excess of inflation generally. See Medical Charges and Challenges and The Conundrum of Medical Inflation. The simple fact is that ...

Data Privacy and the CCPA

• 06/18/19
• Safety National

At the 2019 WCIRB Annual Meeting, a session discussed data privacy concerns under the strong data privacy laws in California. The speakers were: Jeremy Merz - American Property Casualty Insurance Association Nicholas Roxborough - Roxborough Pomerance ...

Restoring the Death Penalty and Other Reasonable Solutions to Workers' Compensation Fraud

• 06/19/19
• Robert Wilson

Editor's Note: This is the third article in a week long series discussing workers’ compensation fraud. The first article in the series may be read here. There is one big ...

Florida Court: No-Fault Pre-Suit Notice Requirement Must Be Followed Before Medicare Private Cause Of Action Claim Can Proceed

• 06/19/19
• Mark Popolizio

Over the past several years, there has been an increasing number of lawsuits filed by Medicare Advantage Plans (MAPs) against insurers seeking ...

CA: DA Announces Sentencing in $5 Million Dollar Patient Referral Scam

• 06/18/19
• WorkersCompensation.com

San Diego, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) - The San Diego County District Attorney’s prosecution of Operation Backlash, a large scale, undercover, joint federal and state investigation into ...

LA Lake Closed After Lifeguards Develop Bacterial Reaction

• 06/19/19
• Liz Carey

Los Angeles, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – The Los Angeles Aquatics Division of the Department of Recreation and Parks has suspended all water activities at a popular recreation facility after lifeguards fell sick ...

Jon Stewart Gives Emotional Plea in Support of 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund

• 06/19/19
• Justyn Needel

Last week, Jon Stewart gave a heartfelt speech to a near empty congress as he advocated for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). The comedian and activist painted a tragic ...

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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