According to The Perecman Firm, "A 25-year-old construction worker who suffered catastrophic electrical burns to his face became the first person in the U.S. to receive a full face transplant in March. Dallas Wiehs was operating a boom lift in 2008 when it came into contact with an overhead power line. The construction accident cost Wiehs' most of his face, including both of his eyes, nose and eyebrows. He spent three months following the accident in a coma and underwent more than 20 surgeries to try to repair some of the damage...." Read more.

New Progressive Medical White Paper Addresses Medical Foods in Workers' Compensation. Progressive Medical, Inc. released a new white paper, "Managing the Medical Foods Dilemma." The white paper addresses the increasing role medical foods play in workers' compensation and the surrounding concern due to lack of conclusive clinical evidence to validate medical foods' effectiveness. The paper also offers insight to how payors can proactively control utilization of medical foods and manage expenses. Read more.

Robert P. Hartwig, President, Insurance Information Institute, in a report entitled "Out of the Abyss: Growth, Challenges and Opportunities in the Post-Crisis World," at NCCI's annual issues symposium on May 5, 2011, presented a mixed picture of present and future conditions of the property and casualty insurance industry. Noting that uncertainty, risk, and fear abound, and citing natural disasters over the past year, the political upheaval in the Middle East, the recession and its long, slow recovery, among other challenges, Hartwig began by asking whether we are, in fact, crawling out of the abyss or falling into a new one. Read more

Larson's Spotlight reports noteworthy workers' comp cases each week. This list was compiled by Thomas A. Robinson, a staff writer for Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, the nation's leading authority on workers' compensation law. 

 

 

 

 > Read the summaries & court decisions.

 

1. AZ: Firefighter Must Come Forward With Evidence That Carcinogen Was Reasonably Connected to Cancer in Spite of Statutory Presumption of Compensability

 

2. FL: Non-Physician Toxicologist's Testimony May Not Be Used to Establish (or Deny) Medical Causation

 

3. NC: Industrial Commission, Not the Deputy Commissioner Hearing the Case, is the Ultimate Fact-Finder

 

4. VA: Risk of Spider Bite Not Peculiar to the Work Environment-Claim Fails

 

5. US:  Licensed Message Therapist's Conviction of Workers' Compensation Fraud Upheld

 Terrorism Risk Insurance

Specifically, in light of the killing of Osama bin Laden, Hartwig addressed the question of whether we still need the terrorism risk insurance program.  His view is that it would be a serious mistake to allow the program to lapse, as currently scheduled, at the end of 2014.  Listing the numerous thwarted terrorism attempts against the U.S. in 2009 and 2010, he suggested that the "domestic/home grown terror risk looms larger today than in 2001."  He also noted that the 9/11 attacks constituted the largest workers' compensation loss-$2.2 billion-in U.S. history, and he pointed out that, in the event of a chemical, nuclear, biological, or radiation terrorist attack, or a truck bomb terrorist attack, on a major U.S. city, workers' compensation will likely amount to the largest single category of claims.

Natural Disasters

Turning to natural disasters, Hartwig stated that the recent earthquake/tsunami in Japan will probably turn out to be "among the most expensive in world history in terms of insured losses," amounting to around $30 billion.  While unlikely to have any direct impact on the U.S. workers' compensation markets, the Japanese disaster is simply one among many recent natural disasters, including record floods in Australia, earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and New Zealand, unprecedented tornadoes in the U.S., and (although too recent for Hartwig to have discussed) the present flooding of the Mississippi River, that have resulted, or will result, in major catastrophe losses.  These losses, no matter where they occur, will have significant impacts on global reinsurers.

Recession

Hartwig reviewed the impact of the recession on the property and casualty lines, pointing out that "massive job losses sapped the economy and p/c exposure," but that the "trend is improving."  The workers' compensation premium volume began dropping, two years before the recession began, and the recession augmented that trend, with the result that net premium written fell by 29.3 percent between 2005 and 2010, from $47.8 billion to $33.8 billion.  Despite recent employment gains, stubbornly high unemployment and underemployment continue to constrain growth in workers' compensation premium.

With regard to the economy as a whole, Hartwig pointed out that far too few new small businesses are being created and that far too many small businesses are filing for bankruptcy, another trend that impedes growth in workers' compensation premium.  Similarly, as long as the construction industry, formerly a major source of workers' compensation premium, remains in the doldrums, premium will stagnate.  In general, of course, the insurance markets are tied to the larger economy, and, until that economy achieves sustained growth, relevant insurance premium growth will be limited.  Hartwig identified several industries "poised for growth" in which many insurers do not write.  Among these are health care, energy (both traditional and alternative), agriculture, natural resources, environmental, technology (including biotechnology), light manufacturing, export-oriented industries, and shipping.

Conclusion

In summary, Hartwig foresees marginally better performance for property and casualty insurers, including workers' compensation insurers, with the performance of insurers' investments being a key driver of profitability.

Read the complete report: https://www.ncci.com/Documents/AIS-2011-Robert-Hartwig.pdf