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Vol. 5, Issue 11

Find Solutions & Strategies                                       March 17, 2014

Medical Costs Impact Workers' Compensation Premiums Less Than Widely Believed
 
It's the labor market, stupid
In This Issue
-LABOR MARKET
-LARSON'S SPOTLIGHT: Narcotic overuse, Offsets, Heat exhaustion, Impairment rating evaluation
-NATIONAL & STATE NEWS
-eNEWSLETTER ARCHIVES
A Note From the Editor
 
Dear Workers' Comp Community: 
  
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LexisNexis Legal & Professional Operations

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"Monitoring the constant wave of legislative activity across this nation is one thing. Making it clear and understandable is quite another. Lexis has done an excellent job of both with the 'Workers' Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis'. Their choice of local experts is superb, and they provide both clear recap and commentary, giving clarity to what was, legislatively, a very tumultuous year."

 

-Robert H. Wilson, President & CEO, WorkersCompensation.com, LLC

 
medical costs impact workers' comp premiums less than widely believed

It's the Labor Market, Stupid

 

By John Stahl, Esq. 

 

Stahl, JohnA significant flaw regarding how many experts have analyzed factors that determined the economic costs of workers' compensation insurance coverage was that these professionals limited their scope to the long list of usual suspects, which included pill mills and imperfect fee schedules. The March 13, 2014 presentation titled "How the Economy Drives the Financial Performance of Workers' Compensation" at the 2014 Annual Issues & Research Conference that Workers Compensation Research Institute held in Boston offered a broader perspective regarding understanding the factors that established workers' compensation insurance premiums...read more.

LARSON'S SPOTLIGHT ON RECENT CASES

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., our Feature National Columnist, is a leading commentator and expert on the law of workers' compensation.

 

Tom Robinson thumbnailDistrict of Columbia: Overuse of Narcotic Pain-Relievers Is Not Abandonment of Workplace. A District of Columbia appellate court has affirmed an ALJ's finding that a claimant did not voluntarily limit her income and was entitled to continue receiving TTD payments related to a work-related injury in spite of the fact that she had been medically cleared for light work...read more.

 

Kansas: Senior Citizen's Comp Benefits Not Subject to Offset by Federal Social Security Benefits. Kansas, like most other states, requires that an employee's workers' compensation award be set-off by any retirement benefits he or she receives from a retirement benefits program, including benefits received under the federal Social Security Act, less any...read more.

 

Tennessee: Appellate Court Overturns Findings That Heat Exhaustion Resulted in Permanent Disability. Acknowledging that the trial court has substantial discretion in weighing the evidence, including the medical evidence, but noting as well that where all the medical evidence was in the form of deposition, the reviewing court analyzes the evidence without a presumption of correctness, a Tennessee appellate court reversed...read more.

 

Pennsylvania: Court Disqualifies Impairment Rating Evaluation of Board-Certified MD on Statutory Grounds. A Pennsylvania appellate court affirmed the denial of an employer's petition to modify an injured employee's benefits on the ground that the physician who performed the Impairment Rating Evaluation on which the Modification Petition was based did not meet the requirement of Section 306(a.2) of the Workers' Comp Act that physicians performing IREs must be... read more.

national & state news

National & State-by-State News on the Free Web:   

 

Experience Modification Rate Can Lead to Higher WC Premiums, Lost Work Opportunities.

State Counties With Highest Temp Workers: SC, IL, MI, NJ, TN.

RIMS Warns Proposes OSHA Rule Would Adversely Affect Risk Management Practices.

AK: HB 316 Would Clamp Down on Medical Fee Schedule Rates.

AZ: Industrial Commission to Hold 2014 Fee Schedule Hearing on 4-17-2014.

AZ: HB 2094 Sets Time Limit on Employee's Third Party Action.

AZ: HB 2394 Keeps 10% Deviation Rate for Calculating Taxes Paid by Self-Insured Employers.

CA: AB 1897 Proponents Seek to Protect Small Business Which Use Temp Agencies.

CA: AB 1746 Would Give Priority to WC Claims Involving Illegally Uninsured Employers.

CA: Dem. Lawmaker Questions LAX Worker Safety.

CA: AB 1576 Would Require STD Testing Every 14 Days for Porn Stars.

CA: DWC Issues Second 15-Day Notice re MPN Proposed Rule Changes.

CA: WCIRB Actuarial Committee to Meet March 19.

CA: WCIRB Posts Summary of SB 863 Medical Cost Analysis.

CO: Employers Ramp Up Drug Testing Due to Legalization of Recreational Marijuana.

CT: Two Bills for Mental Trauma Being Considered by Legislature.

CT: Governor Appoints Thomas J. Mullins to Workers' Compensation Commission.

HI: SB 2064 Would Give Injured Employees 17 Visits of Psychological/Psychiatric Services.

KS: Court of Appeals to Hear Oral Arguments in Two Workers' Comp Cases.

LA: LWCC Board of Directors Declare $69.1M Dividend.

MD: Local Governments Crack Down on Workers Comp Fraud.

MA: High Court Dismisses Lawsuit in Caseworker Death.

MN: High Court Says PTSD Is No "Brain Injury".

NV: NCCI Explains 3.2 Percent Increase in Loss Cost Filing.

NH: HB 439 Increase in WC Benefits Opposed as Undoing Cost Control Reforms.

NM: Governor Signs SB 9 Business Portal to Access Workers Comp Information.

NM: Funds Not Earmarked When Subsequent Injury Fund Disbanded in 1996.

NY: Cornell Administrators to Form Task Force on Workers' Comp for Grad Students.

NC: Industrial Commission Posts 2014 Maximum Weekly Comp Rate.

OH: Dem. Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Provide Death Benefits for Part Time Officers' Families.

OK: High Court Upholds Law to Convert CompSource Into Mutual Insurance Company.

OK: Attorney General Comments on CompSource's Legal Victory.

OR: Governor Signs SB 1558 re Insolvent Self-Insured Employer Groups.

PA: SB 1195 Would Provide $4M to Address Uninsured Employer Obligations.

TX: Employers Offering FMLA Instead of Workers' Comp Face Risks.

TX: DWC Adopts Revised Utilization Review Rules Effective 3-30-2014.

WA: Legislature Adjourns Without Reforming Workers' Comp.

EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR MEETING MSA OBLIGATIONS (online course)

 

Jen Jordan March 2010 thumbnail  

Instructor: Jennifer C. Jordan,  Esq.
Editor-in-Chief of
The Complete Guide to Medicare Secondary Payer Compliance (LexisNexis)
 

ENEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

ArchivesTake a deep dive into our past eNewsletters for 2014 and prior...warning - some links to articles may not work...report any linking problems to [email protected].

March 10, 2014: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

March 3, 2014: Bariatric Surgery: Is It  a Workers' Compensation Medical Benefit

February 24, 2014: M is for Meso

February 18, 2014: Texas Blueprint for How to Lower Workers' Comp Costs

February 10, 2014: Workers' Comp Legal Trends: The World According to Marsh

February 3, 2014: Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.

ACCESS 2010-2013 ARCHIVES AND ARTICLES LIST HERE.

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