Quote of the day
"We're covering all fronts."
Tom Phelan, president/CEO of Maryland Injured Workers' Insurance Fund, about a 5-percent reduction in 2008 standard rates
Maryland Fund Announces 2008 Rate Cut
Following a 10-percent drop in injury claims during the past two years,
Maryland’s Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund, a quasi-state workers’ comp insurance provider that controls 31 percent of the market, announces that more than 30,000 policyholders will see a 5-percent reduction on average in their standard 2008 rates.
Go to the full story by Hanah Cho, Baltimore Sun
Go to the full story by Daniel Hays, National Underwriter
Jury Convicts Ohio BWC Investment Manager of Fraud
Rejecting the defense’s assertion that the loss of a $216 million Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation investment in a high-risk hedge fund was not a crime, a jury convicts Pittsburgh investment manager Mark Lay of investment advisory fraud. Prosecutors argued that Lay leveraged or borrowed significantly more than his contract with the bureau allowed in order to increase profits, and concealed what he what he was doing.
Go to the full story by Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch [With Photo] Go to the full story by AP via Akron Beacon Journal
Opinion: Oklahoma Workers and Employers, Not Lawyers, Need Reform
Workers’ comp reform is likely in 2008 in Oklahoma, where, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance, 2006 permanent partial disability claims were nearly twice the regional average and average lost-time frequency was 60 percent higher than the national average. The goal should be to benefit Sooner State workers and employers, not the attorneys who have been making a killing in this arena for too long. Oklahoman
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BrickStreet Holds Sparsely-Attended Annual Meeting
Only 35 people show up for BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co.’s annual meeting to watch president and CEO Greg Burton field complaints from two policyholders. Burton contends that a consolidation of BrickStreet’s offices will save the company $3 million over 15 years and will build equity for the firm. By George Hohmann, Charleston Daily Mail
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NCCI Acquiesces to Florida’s Regulators Request
The National Council on Compensation Insurance agrees to comply with a request by Florida insurance regulators to implement the largest one-year decrease on record in workers’ comp rates: an average of 18.4 percent statewide. By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
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Workers’ Comp and Civilian Federal Employees in Iraq
Since 2004, the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs has received 194 Federal Employees’ Compensation Act claims for federal workers in Iraq, resulting in a total payout of $1.7 million in medical and death benefits and lost wages, according to an agency director. As more banks and other infrastructures are created in Iraq, adjustments to benefits for civilian federal employees in mission-critical posts may be necessary. By Melissa Turley, Risk and Insurance
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Canada: Northern Employers Get Major Rebate
Northern Canada employers will receive a 30 percent rebate on their paid 2006 assessment returns by the end of December, the Workers’ Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut announces. It is a one-time rebate of about $10.5 million USD that officials attribute to “good investment earnings.” By Jennifer Obleman, Northern News Services
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Manitoba WCB Announces 2008 Rate Cut
The Manitoba Workers Compensation Board announces a 4.8 percent drop in 2008 rates. About 85 percent of employers will experience a decline and one-third of employers will see a decrease in rates of 10 percent or more. Winnipeg Free Press
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