Quote of the day
"We realize that your office cannot force BWC to set group discounts at a particular level. But we believe that a finding of another wrongful omission could put pressure on the Board to take the action your previous report recognized as being correct."
Connie Nahra, president of We'veHadEnough.Net, an Ohio business coalition that argues that a decision last year to cut group discounts did not go far enough
Long Beach Doctor Aims to Help Disabled Navigate Challenges
SB 899 was the catalyst that spurred Dr. John F. Tholen, who recently published “Winning the Disability Challenge: A Practical Guide to Successful Living,” to write the book, which he says is intended to guide injured workers through their rights and benefits and also present them with a strategy to deal with the challenges of being disabled. By Shereen Oca, Grunion/Downtown Gazette (Long Beach)
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NCCI: 2007 Barely Profitable
The National Council on Compensation Insurance announces that the workers’ compensation insurance market eked out another profitable year with a calendar-year combined ratio of 99 for 2007, a six-point drop from last year. NCCI’s chief actuary tells attendees at its Annual Issues Symposium in Orlando that, if results from California were removed, the figure would have been higher, and that based on historical trends, the good times may be over. By Dan Hays, National Underwriter
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Cry for Help from Buckeye State Businesses
An Ohio employers’ coalition tells the state inspector general that the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has ignored 2007 findings by the inspector general about the system for determining group discounts. Recent reductions, the state’s first since 2001, were 2 percentage points more than initially expected but nowhere near what rate-setting experts had been recommending for 15 years.
Go to the full story by Julie Carr Smyth, AP via Houston Chronicle
Go to the full story by AP via WTTE-TV (Columbus)
Vermont Officials Probe More Sick Building Complaints
The Vermont Department of Health is investigating whether state employees became ill after coming in contact with files from a shuttered “sick building” that had been a state office complex. The complaint claims that employees who have worked with files from the old building have contracted sinus infections, bronchitis and pneumonia. By Neal P. Goswami, Bennington Banner
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CRM Holdings Reports Earnings Jump
Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based CRM Holdings Ltd., reports an earnings surge, good news for a company that has faced a planned disciplinary hearing from the New York Workers’ Compensation Board. By Craig Wolf, Poughkeepsie Journal
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Labor Dept. Adds Disease Info to Energy Workers’ Website
The U.S. Department of Labor adds to its web resources information about occupational diseases associated with toxic substances found at facilities covered under Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, under which workers who have diseases linked to radiation exposures during the Cold War are eligible for compensation. Occupational Health & Safety
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Editorial: WHSCC Must Step Up
The recent budget has many provisions that will foster entrepreneurship and make Newfoundland and Labrador a more competitive province. While the provincial government does it part to address competitiveness and the business climate, it is time for the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission to step up and do the same. By Canadian Press via Western Star (Corner Brook, NL)
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