CA - WCIRB Webinar Explores Geographic Differences in Claim Development
12/16/2019 | 105 | 0 | 13 min read
A higher proportion of cumulative trauma claims filed in Southern California contributes to higher overall frequency compared to other regions of the state, according to data the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau presented during a recent webinar.
The fifth annual study of regional differences in claim development patterns found a higher proportion of cumulative trauma claims in the Los Angeles and Long Beach area, where overall indemnity claim frequency was about 30% higher than the state average. The proportion of cumulative trauma claims was also highest in the Southl...
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A special division at the Louisiana Office of Workers' Compensation Administration, set up to prosecute comp fraud, has notched its first indictment: a subcontractor who may have been involved in the Hard Rock Hotel construction site that collapsed in October.
Manuel A. Reyes, owner of Rey Co., a Metairie-based drywall contractor, was indicted in November on nine counts related to premium fraud and misclassification of workers, according to OWCA and the indictment.
Reyes underreported his payroll by as much as $794,000, cutting the cost of his comp premiums considerably, OWCA D...
The Louisiana Supreme Court last week disbarred a DeRidder attorney for misconduct involving the neglect of clients’ legal matters, a failure to provide competent representation and improper retention of unearned fees.
Mitchel M. Evans II was already suspended from the practice of law when the Supreme Court handed down its decision last Tuesday forbidding him from ever having his license reinstated.
Some of the allegations against Evans stemmed from a workers' compensation case in which he retained a fee of $40,437.49 of his client's $55,000 settlement.
A workers' com...
The North Dakota Supreme Court overturned a district court judge’s determination that an injured worker’s benefits ought to have been discontinued.
Case: State ex rel. Workforce Safety & Insurance v. Salat, No. 20190056, 12/12/2019, published.
Facts: Bile Salat worked for XPO Logistics. He slipped and fell while at work in February 2016. Salat suffered injuries to his back, hip and right ankle.
Workforce Safety & Insurance accepted the injuries as compensable.
Salat’s doctor released him to regular-duty work in June 2016. He worked a full day on June 29 and a...
GLENDALE, Calif. - The California Insurance Guarantee Association added veteran workers' compensation professional, Robert Aguilar, Jr. to their in-house litigation team in November. Aguilar will be working under highly respected industry leaders, Joseph Gallo and Terri Harrison.
For more than a decade Aguilar has been an assertive and intricate authority in the workers' compensation industry in California. Formerly a film...
Your 2020 workers' comp resolutions begin with the obvious: Start the list now in late 2019. I usually build off the previous years’ lists.
This year let us start with a clean slate for our 2020 workers’ comp resolutions and go from there.
Check the resolutions that I wrote each year for the last 10 years for ideas. You can type "resolutions" in the search box. The resolutions should come up in date order, newest to oldest.
Were there any surprises in your workers' comp program? If so, find out why the...
The Mississippi Supreme Court reinstated a ruling by the Workers’ Compensation Commission finding that a truck driver with a history of back injuries did not suffer any additional permanent disability from his most recent industrial accident.
Case: Sheffield v. S.J. Louis Construction Inc., No. 2018-CT-00385-SCT, 12/12/2019, published.
Facts: Robert Sheffield worked for S.J. Louis Construction as a truck driver. He injured his back at work in June 2015.
Sheffield’s doctor placed him at maximum medical improvement in February 2016 and assigned a 7% impairment rating, stating ...
A California man who employed the only person who died fighting the 2016 Soberanes Fire was sentenced to 300 days of house arrest after he was convicted on charges that included illegally operating without workers’ compensation coverage.
KQED reports that a Monterey County judge also sentenced Ian Czirban to serve three years of felony probation.
Czirban was convicted in October of not having comp coverage, failing to file a payroll tax return and filing a false document.
Robert Reagan III, 35, died in July 2016 when a bulldozer he was driving around a steep grade rolled over. He was ...
The maximum weekly disability benefit for injured workers in Florida will climb by $31 next year, based on an increase in the state's average weekly wage, the Florida Division of Workers' Compensation announced.
The maximum benefit in Florida is set by law at 100% of the average weekly wage, as determined by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The wage rose from $939 in 2018 to $971 for 2019, and the maximum benefit will rise to that amount starting Jan. 1, the division said in a bulletin.
The maximum level in Florida has risen every year since 1951, while the minimu...
The National Council on Compensation Insurance launched a new resource providing information about court cases throughout the country that may impact workers’ compensation systems.
NCCI said it has reported on almost 100 cases since it started publishing its Court Case Update in January 2018. The Court Case Insights page on its website helps users search and sort through NCCI’s summaries.
The service allows users to view cases NCCI has summarized in all states or narrow the search to decisions coming out of specific jurisdictions. It also allows users to limit the search to cases...
The National Council on Compensation Insurance is proposing two classification changes for oil and gas workers, which could give employers more flexibility in determining premiums.
The revisions were announced by the Texas Division of Workers' Compensation but are part of a nationwide effort by the NCCI to keep up with changes in the oil and gas industry, including the process known as fracturing, or “fracking” underground rock to release fossil fuel reserves.
The revisions to the basic manual for oil and gas creates a class for flowback service workers and allows drill site ...
Liberty Mutual named Francis Hyatt the carrier’s first chief sustainability officer and announced a new global policy on coal underwriting and investment.
Hyatt has held several leadership positions with Liberty over the last 28 years, most recently serving as executive vice president of enterprise talent practices, where he was tasked with recruiting, training and retaining employees.
He will head up what the company is calling its environmental, social and governance issues and lead the carrier’s Office of Sustainability.
In the same announcement, Liberty Mutual said it wi...
Insurers hoping to tap into the vast new world of artificial intelligence for claims, customer service and underwriting should not try to build a new app from scratch.
Instead, they would do well to work within existing messaging and virtual-assistance apps, including Amazon's Alexa, said the founder of an artificial intelligence software firm.
Miguel Fernandez, head of ClaimBot, a Google-backed insurtech firm in Austin, spoke at a webinar the Insurance Council of Texas hosted Thursday that explored the rapidly growing uses of AI in insurance claims.
For example, he said, AI can not...
The Supreme Court of Tennessee’s Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel ruled that the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board erred in overturning a permanent partial disability benefits award for a delivery driver’s neck injury.
Case: Joiner v. United Parcel Service, No. M2018-01876-SC-R3-WC, 12/06/2019, published.
Facts: Roger Joiner worked for United Parcel Service as a delivery driver. He claimed he experienced a popping sensation in his shoulder while lifting a mailbag at work on Feb. 26, 2016.
He did not experience immediate pain, but he allegedly had ting...
A New York appellate court ruled that an electrician was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim and that the property owner was entitled to summary judgment on its indemnification claim against its lessee.
Case: Jara v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 2017-05130, 12/04/2019, published.
Facts: Rodrigo Jara is a self-employed electrician. He allegedly suffered injuries while repairing an electrically operated, roll-up metal gate for the entrance to a property owned by the Costco Wholesale Corp. The property was leased to Westbury Liquors Inc.
The gate was stuck in the open position. ...
