Quote of the day
''It's runaway profits."
Steve Alexander, actuary, Florida Office of Insurance Consumer Advocate, about at least 26 workers' comp insurers in the Sunshine State who have been ordered to repay excess profits
Florida Regulators Order Some Insurers to Repay Excess Profits
According to the Florida Department of Insurance, at least 26 workers’ compensation insurers made too much money between 2003 and 2005 and may owe employers more than $42.8 million. Florida caps how much profit companies can make from underwriting workers’ comp policies, but orders to repay excess profits have been rare. By Randy Diamond, Palm Beach Post
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Palin Appoints Five to Alaska Workers’ Comp Board
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin appoints five individuals to the state’s 18-member Workers’ Compensation Board. The board’s 18 members are selected from four major areas of the state, with half of the members representing labor and half representing management. Arctic Sounder
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Pennsylvania County Controller Vows Tighter Fraud Oversight
New Lackawanna County, Pa., controller Ken McDowell vows that the county never again will overpay its workers’ compensation fund administrator or any contractor the way it did an administrator indicted last week for defrauding the county of more than $407,000. By Boris Krawczeniuk, Scranton Times-Tribune
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Report: Mold Exposures at VA Hospital Triggered Probe, Citations
An employee and a patient’s exposure to mold in October 2006 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center near Martinsburg, W.V., triggered an internal investigation and may explain why Fed-OSHA cited it last month. “Surgical masks do not afford adequate protection,” the report concludes. By Matthew Umstead, Herald-Mail (Hagerstown, Md.)
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Mental Illnesses Can Cost Employers More Than Physical Disabilities
Workers with behavioral health problems, which include substance abuse and mental health problems, are a small percentage of the overall work force, but account for a large percentage of overall health expenditures. By Elayne Robertson Demby, Financial Week
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Ohio Employers Gear Up for Rate Changes
Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation agents are meeting with employers about changes that loom in the state’s workers’ comp system, including the maximum discount allowed per employer. Additional plans include implementing a more accurate claims-reserving model and transitioning to a new experience rating system. By Kimberly Gasuras, Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum
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South Carolina Governor Defends Executive Order
Lawyers for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford were expected in court yesterday to respond to charges that executive orders he issued to the state Workers’ Compensation Commission are unconstitutional. The orders requiring commissioners to individually report on how much they were awarding in permanent disability cases and to use AMA guidelines have sparked outrage by plaintiffs’ attorneys. By Daniel Hays, National Underwriter
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