CA - Rand: Stable Access, Decreasing Provider Participation a 'Puzzle'
08/31/2026 | 0
Rand said in a new report that contradictory findings about provider participation trends and access to care in California's workers' compensation system "pose somewhat of a puzzle."
"We found flat or slightly declining participation for individual providers overall in workers’ compensation, which included declines in participation among key provider types (physicians, chiropractors and psychologists) and physician specialties (primary care, orthopedic surgeons and other surgeons) with substantial workers’ compensation participation," Rand sai
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The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, in announcing its latest dividend Friday, said it has returned more money to employers since 2019 than it collected in premiums.
BWC announced that its board of directors approved a $1 billion dividend, which represents about 90% of premiums paid in policy year 2022. The latest distribution brings to $10.2 billion the total returned to employers over the last seven years.
"Employers have now been sent more in dividends than they have paid in workers’ compensation premiums since 2019," the BWC said in a statement.
Checks will be d
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined a brickmaker in Pennsylvania nearly half a million dollars for allegedly knowingly exposing its workers to unsafe levels of respirable silica dust.
OSHA said it cited General Shale Brick Inc. for three "willful" violations, four "serious" violations and one repeat violation, and proposed penalties of $496,528.
The agency said General Shale Brick knew workers at its plant, where molded bricks are made, breathed in silica dust above safe limits but failed to fix the problem or require them to wear r
The Tennessee Workers' Compensation Appeals Board affirmed a decision finding that a worker failed to prove that her alleged mental health injuries were primarily caused by an event leading to what a reasonable person would consider a sudden or unusual mental stimulus.
Case: Jolicia S. Rhodes v. Allstate Insurance Co. et al., 2025-60-3095, 08/27/2026, published.
Facts: Jolicia S. Rhodes was a claims representative in the total loss division of Allstate Insurance Co. when her workload increased in 2022.
She requested a modified workload and schedule flexibility as an accommodation for pr
We have all had experience with primary treating physicians who operate a little bit on the lazy side with respect to their PR-2 reporting.
Oftentimes, this laziness takes the form of “cut-and-paste” reporting where it’s difficult to decipher what the details are from this latest visit, versus those of prior visits. Other times, there are no changes to the report at all other than a recommendation to refill prescription medications. But what about when the PR-2 report fails to address something significant, specifically work status and work restrictions?
Under Labor Cod
The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed a Workers' Compensation Board of Review decision authorizing an arthroscopy of a firefighter's left wrist because it was not clearly wrong.
Case: City of Wheeling v. David Gilbert, No. 26-ICA-73, 08/27/2026, published.
Facts: David Gilbert, a firefighter for the City of Wheeling, filed a claim in April 2024, alleging that he injured his left wrist pulling on a stuck valve.
He saw several providers over the next couple of months for persistent wrist pain and what he described as the feeling that something was popping in and
A California appellate court held that the protection provided by the Privette doctrine can travel through a contractual chain of delegation to shield a property owner who did not hire the contractor whose worker was injured.
"In conclusion, where a lease agreement expressly contemplates the use of an independent contractor to perform work, and the tenant subsequently hires an independent contractor to perform said work, the non-hiring lessor falls within the chain of delegation and, absent a recognized exception, the Privette doctrine applies to shield the non-hiring lessor from liabili
The Southern California judge who pleaded guilty to paying a suspended provider to write medical-legal reports was sentenced to one year of probation and fined $5,000 Thursday, according to media reports.
Israel Claustro pleaded guilty to one count of felony mail fraud in January and admitted to paying Dr. Kevin T. Do to perform exams, review medical records and write med-legal reports relating to Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund claims after Do was prohibited from participating in the workers' compensation system.
The Division of Workers' Compensation in October 2018 suspende
A Texas appellate court partially reinstated a self-represented worker’s claim for unpaid wages and modified the dismissal of his claim for workers’ compensation benefits as without prejudice.
Case: Fidelis J.B. v. Schlumberger Limited, No. 14-25-00580-CV, 08/25/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Fidelis Johnson Badaiki sued Schlumberger Limited for allegedly breaching a settlement agreement.
Badaiki has been the plaintiff in multiple lawsuits, and he sometimes identifies himself using different combinations of his names and initials. He filed this suit, acting
A Florida appellate court ruled that a judge of compensation claims should have awarded reimbursement of the expenses a mother incurred in pursuing a guardianship for her son after he suffered a compensable, catastrophic brain injury.
Case: Fish v. Extreme Enterprises of Marion County Inc., No. 1D2024-2817, 08/26/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Joseph Reed had worked for Extreme Enterprises of Marion County Inc. He sustained a catastrophic brain injury in July 2022 when he was struck by a motor vehicle while edging grass along a highway.
Reed’s mother hired attorne
A Louisiana appellate court upheld the dismissal of a worker’s claim for a psychological injury caused by her work-related stress.
Case: May v. Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Cos., Nos. 25-CA-576 and 25-C-491, 08/20/2026, published.
Facts: Chelsea May worked for Blue Sky Hospitality Solutions LLC. She filed a workers’ compensation claim, alleging that she had suffered a mental injury caused by workplace stress and a hostile work environment that existed from June 17, 2024, through her termination on July 14, 2024.
Procedural history: May filed a motion for partial default judgment
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should not have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his injuries from a misstep while exiting an elevator.
Case: Ambrose v. City University Construction Fund, No. 162316/19 595797/20, 08/20/2026, published.
Facts: Gregory Ambrose worked for B&G Industries LTD as an electrician. He performed telecommunications work as part of a larger project to construct new buildings for the City University Construction Fund.
Ambrose fell while stepping backwards out of an elevator doorway on the fourth floor of the building.
Accordin
Connecticut prosecutors said the owner of a company that specializes in asbestos, lead and mold removal was charged with failure to provide workers' compensation at the time of a workplace injury.
Dave Benbow, 54, owned All-Pro Abatement LLC, based in Bridgeport.
The Division of Criminal Justice said an investigation revealed that the company did not have a valid workers' compensation policy at the time of a workplace accident in which an All-Pro employee was injured.
The agency did not provide any additional information.
Benbow surrendered himself and was released on a $5,000 non-
California lawmakers have spiked a controversial proposal to allow naturopaths to serve as primary treating physicians in the workers' compensation system.
Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, on Tuesday accepted amendments recommended by the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions and stripped from SB 1303 several recently added provisions that would have expanded the scope of practice for naturopaths. The committee voted 17-0 to pass the amended bill, which now heads to the Assembly floor.
Wahab had amended the bill Aug. 20 to add a provision that would have added naturopathic doctors t
A Texas appellate court ruled that the claims brought by two doctors against a hospital for their on-the-job radiation exposure were healthcare liability claims subject to the requirements of the Texas Medical Liability Act.
Case: Shannon Medical Center v. Sickels, No. 15-25-00167-CV, 08/25/2026, published.
Facts: Dr. Michael Sickels and Dr. James Christopher Cole both worked as radiologists at Shannon Medical Center for more than 20 years. Both received skin cancer diagnoses and had to undergo multiple invasive surgical procedures.
Procedural history: The doctors sued Shanno
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker struck by a swinging steel beam should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim.
Case: Sougstad v. OLP Hauppauge LLC, No. 2024-08889, 08/19/2026, published.
Facts: Eric Sougstad allegedly suffered injuries while working at a construction site.
According to Sougstad, he was hurt while he and a co-worker unloaded a delivery of steel beams and "shaking out" the steel, a process that involved using spreader hooks attached to a crane to lift the beams off the truck and place them on the ground.
Sougsta