Tag: Workers Comp

Welcome to the first edition of Business Insurance’s digital newsletter, which covers Riskworld, the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.’s 2024 conference in San Diego.

About 10,000 registered attendees and 300 exhibitors are expected at the conference this week. BI will cover sessions, events and news from the meeting each day.

Among the highlights of the first day was the 31st Annual Spencer Gallagher Golf Tournament and the Riskworld opening reception in the Gaslamp district. See our photo coverage of the reception here.

Also on Sunday, students from eight universities competed in the 2024 Spencer-RIMS Risk Management Challenge. The winning team will be announced at the Spencer Educational Foundation Inc. evening reception tonight.

For more coverage of Riskworld, check your inbox each morning.

 

 

 

 

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based MedRisk, which manages physical rehabilitation in workers compensation, plans to acquire Conduent Inc.’s Casualty Claims Solutions business.  

The $240 million sale is subject to customary adjustments and regulatory approval, and consists of Conduent’s workers compensation and auto casualty bill review solutions and services that includes the processing of medical bills and clinical services, and its portfolio of Strataware bill review software products, Conduent said in a statement.

In 2023, the business, with about 100 clients across multiple markets, processed 29 million medical bills, according to the statement. Conduent said 1,000 employees in the Casualty Claims Solutions business will join MedRisk.

 

 

 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed sweeping legislation that would, among other things, provide firefighters diagnosed with cancer with alternative benefits to workers compensation.

House Bill 989 makes firefighters diagnosed with certain types of cancer eligible to receive specific disability or death benefits and offers a one-time cash payout of $25,000 upon the initial cancer diagnosis.

The law mandates employers to provide coverage for cancer treatment within an employer-sponsored health plan or through a group insurance trust fund, and it requires employers to reimburse firefighters for out-of-pocket deductibles, co-payments or coinsurance costs connected to the cancer treatment.

The legislation says that if the cancer is determined to have been directly connected to work activities, firefighters would be entitled to higher disability and death benefits.

The sweeping law also makes unrelated changes to areas of law other than workers compensation.

 

 

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Thursday it cited a Boston-based window cleaning company over the death of an employee who fell 29 stories.

OSHA cited Sky Safety Inc. for two “willful,” four “serious” and two “repeat” violations, and assessed $447,087 in proposed penalties following the October 2023 incident in Boston’s financial district.

Sky Safety failed to ensure personal fall protections and a rope descent system were in proper working order, it had not inspected safety equipment for damage and other deterioration, and it failed to remove defective items from service before each work shift, OSHA said.

OSHA said it had cited Sky Safety’s predecessor company, Hi-Rise Inc., for exposing workers to similar fall-related and equipment hazards in December 2013 and May 2019.

The company has 15 business days to contest the latest citation and proposed penalties. 

 

 

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday signed legislation that provides first responders with supplemental compensation if they are diagnosed with work-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

House Bill 451 requires that all statewide public entities offer supplemental, illness-specific insurance benefits, either through an insurer or self-insured, for emergency responders who suffer from PTSD due to line-of-duty traumatic events that prevent them from continuing to work.

The law provides first responders with a lump sum $3,000 payment and up to 36 months of disability and income replacement benefits over the course of their lifetime if they are unable to return to work as a first responder. It covers both professional and volunteer first responders.

 

A trial judge and lower appeals court improperly found that an injured Whirlpool Corp. employee’s workers compensation claim had expired because a jurisdictional limitation placed on the state’s Industrial Commission affects trial court cases, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

Brian Caldwell filed for workers comp after being injured while working for Whirlpool in 2015. He was awarded permanent partial disability but sought additional coverage in December 2019 for other medical conditions he claimed arose from the work injury.

The additional claim was denied administratively, and Mr. Caldwell appealed. The Industrial Commission refused to hear the case, citing a state law that limits its jurisdiction to five years from the date of the last compensation payment.

In April 2022, Mr. Caldwell invoked another state statute to revive his case and filed a lawsuit, again contending his additional injuries qualify for benefits in the state’s workers compensation fund.

The trial judge and the Third District Court of Appeals determined that the claim for additional compensation had expired, and the court complaint was dismissed.  

The high court ruled that Mr. Caldwell’s claim for additional benefits had not expired when it passed the five-year mark because the statute cited by Whirlpool only pertains to administrative workers comp claims and not pending trial court cases.

The justices reversed the lower decisions and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings. 

 

 

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday said it cited a Connecticut home care agency after a licensed practical nurse was killed by a patient during a home visit in Willimantic, Connecticut.

OSHA cited Jordan Health Care Inc. and New England Home Care Inc., both doing business as Elara Claring, for one “willful” violation for failing to develop adequate measures to protect workers from workplace violence.

OSHA issued Dallas-based Elara Claring $163,627 in proposed penalties. The company has 15 business days to contest the citation and proposed penalties.

The citation stems from an Oct. 28, 2023, incident in which nurse Joyce Grayson was killed during a visit to a halfway house.

OSHA also cited Elara Claring for one “other-than-serious” violation for failing to provide work-related injury and illness records to OSHA within a statutorily mandated timeframe.

OSHA said the case highlights the need for employers to create and implement comprehensive workplace violence prevention programs, especially in light of rising incidents of violence in recent time.

 

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday that it cited two companies following fatal workplace falls.

OSHA cited Detyens Shipyards Inc., a North Charleston, South Carolina, ship repair and servicing company, after an employee fell 20 feet from an unguarded side of a small platform inside a fuel tank on a U.S. Navy ship in November 2023.

The agency said Detyens Shipyards “willfully” exposed workers to fall hazards by permitting them to access platform levels without adequate guardrails.

The incident marked the fourth employee fatality at Detyens Shipyards in five years, including two fatal falls, OSHA said.

The agency proposed $190,130 in penalties. Detyens Shipyards has 15 business days to contest the citation and proposed penalties.

OSHA also said it cited Hahira, Georgia-based Landmark Erecting Inc. over the November 2023 death of an employee who fell 12 feet onto a concrete slab and suffered traumatic head injuries.

The employee was installing metal roofing sheets on a building in Arcadia, Florida, at the time of the incident.

OSHA cited Landmark Erecting for one “serious” violation for failing to ensure the availability of accessible medical treatment and one “other-than-serious” violation for not reporting a work-related fatality within eight hours. The agency proposed $46,550 in penalties.

Landmark Erecting has 15 business days to contest the citation and proposed penalties.