Comments due by October 26 The US Department of Labor on August 26, 2016 filed proposed rules for comment on the definition of minimum and maximum compensation rate annual adjustments. See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-08-26/pdf/2016-20467.pdf The main issue in contention is that the US DOL Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs is proposing to employ the average weekly wage of [...]
The US Department of Labor on October 5th released a report entitled “Does the Workers’ Compensation System Fulfill Its Obligations to Injured Workers?”. The release of the report was accompanied by statements from the Secretary of Labor, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, and the US DOL Assistant Secretary for OSHA. The report may be [...]
On September 28, 2016, The US Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) to provide appropriation authority so that the federal government could pay its bills after September 30th. The President is expected to sign the CR. The legislation includes a number of permanent provisions including a provision that prohibits the Veterans Administration from paying for medical [...]
On October 5th the US Department of Labor in coordination with the National Academy of Social Insurance will release two reports reviewing state workers’ compensation. The Department of Labor’s State Workers’ Compensation Report, which addresses recent trends in state workers’ compensation systems and the effect of these trends on workers, employers, and communities; and The National [...]
The impact of the Florida Supreme Court decision in the Castellanos case http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2016/sc13-2082.pdf finding the statutory limitation on attorney fees to be unconstitutional prompted the NCCI rate fling with an increase of 15% associated with the decision. Most of the overall rate filing increase of 19.6% that would be effective for new and renewal business October [...]
The debate over “reasonable” attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases continues in Florida and will likely reverberate across the country as states review their laws in light of the recent Florida Supreme Court case in Castellanos v. Next Door Company. See http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2016/sc13-2082.pdf In the Castellanos case the majority opinion concluded that The right of an injured [...]
According to some recent polling in Colorado it appears that Colorado Amendment 69, which would increase employer paid payroll taxes to establish a new state single payer system, has substantial support and it could pass as an initiative in Colorado. In addition to the increased payroll tax that it would impose, passage would raise questions about [...]
On Friday, December 18, 2015, the President signed into law H.R. 2029 – the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016,” which provides fiscal year 2016 full-year appropriations through September 30, 2016 for all agencies. See text at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr2029enr/pdf/BILLS-114hr2029enr.pdf. The Act included two provisions of note related to unemployment compensation or workers’ compensation. Workforce Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Extension [...]
Denver, Colo.--The CACI Board of Directors this week voted to oppose Amendment 69, a ballot initiative that would create a state governmental universal health-care system that would mandate $25 billion in new taxes on workers, employers and taxpayers in its first full year of implementation. The system would be called ColoradoCare. Amendment 69 has been approved [...]
The 2015 edition of the Workers’ Compensation Research Bulletin is now available. This publication provides a summary review of state workers’ compensation legislation and significant administrative measures adopted in all states during 2014. The bulletin is available at the nominal cost of $25.00 plus shipping, and may be purchased on-line at http://www.uwcstrategy.org/bookshop/ Additional publications provided by [...]