Quote of the day
"The agency does not sufficiently emphasize preventing, detecting and recovering improper payments. None of the performance goals for the program addresses improper payments."
Government Accountability Office report on the Labor Department's management of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act program
Arizona Appeals Court Rules on False Statements
Lying to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits has a price under Arizona law, but not necessarily loss of all benefits, according to the Arizona Court of Appeals. KTAR-TV (Phoenix)
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GAO Finds $13M in Improper Federal Workers’ Comp Payments
A workers’ compensation program managed by the Labor Department issued $13.3 million in improper payments in 2006, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. For its part, the Labor Department contends the GAO report inflates the number of errors and ignores a range of administrative improvements. By Alyssa Rosenberg, Government Executive
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NCCI Methods Flawed: Study
A study commissioned by the South Carolina Department of Insurance finds flaws in National Council on Compensation Insurance methods of collecting and reporting data used to determine state workers’ compensation rates. By Phil Gusman, National Underwriter
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Missouri Steelworker’s Children to Receive 27K in Settlement
The children of a 27-year-old steelworker killed in a 2003 construction accident at a Missouri loading facility each will receive nearly $27,000, according to the settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit. The incident occurred as the worker connected free-standing steel columns that collapsed and caused him to fall 30 feet. By Matt Heindl, Columbia Missourian
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P.E.I. Program Called Out over WCB Appointments
In Canada, the chief of a program designed to give all Prince Edward Islanders a chance at government appointments defends the appointment of six Liberals to a Workers Compensation Board tribunal. CBC News
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Abysmal Poultry Processing Conditions Not New or Isolated
In response to a series of recent articles about deplorable work conditions in poultry processing plants in the Carolinas, a Duke University Medical Center professor writes that the industry has a long history of occupational safety and health problems—particularly with respect to women—that largely have been ignored. By Hester J. Lipscomb, Raleigh News & Observer
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