Statement by OSHA Administrator John Henshaw On Worker Memorial Day 2004. "Today is Worker Memorial Day, a day to pay tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives on the job. We mourn with their families and friends, and we recognize that the loss of these very special people extends beyond the home; the loss is felt in schools, places of worship, at social gatherings, in local communities, and throughout the entire nation.

WORKER AWARDED $12 MILLION - WC BAD FAITH. Court awards $12 million in workers' compensation case. A former nursing home worker has been awarded more than $12 million in a judgment against three insurance companies that denied her workers' compensation claim. The Rapid City jury returned its verdict - $60,000 in compensatory damages and $12 million in punitive damages - last week after a a four-day trial in federal court.''An insurance adjuster is supposed to be like a judge, fair and impartial. ... If you bribe a judge, you get thrown in jail. But they bribe these claims adjusters with bounties that are tied directly to their performance in paying claims.'' 

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced an interim final rule that implements a law Congress passed earlier this year to identify and compensate people injured as a result of receiving a smallpox vaccine.

New Jersey lawyers choose the tops in their profession in 24 fields of law.

CALIFORNIA - THE DISMATLING OF THE SYSTEM Schwarzenegger convenes special session on workers’ comp Displaying his priorities as the new governor of ...

 A BILL To amend the Medicare Secondary Payer Act(42 U.S.C. § 1395y(b), et seq.)

 CASES--The compensation judge denied)petitioner’s motion for temporary disability and medical benefits regarding a rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder and problems with his left knee. where the compensable injuries he sustained in his work—related accident had to do with his left shoulder, neck and lower back assessing the conflicting medical testimony the compensation judge found that the new problems were not causally related to the work—related, and that conservative treatment, rather than surgery, was recommended for petitioner’s lower-hack problems.

HEALTH CARE--Many California Employers Face Health Care Mandate
With the ranks of the uninsured rising rapidly across the country, California — where the problem is especially acute — is on the verge of requiring thousands of employers to provide health benefits for their workers.

Private health insurance premiums increased 13.9% in 2003, a larger increase than last year and the third consecutive year of double-digit increases, according to the 2003 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET). This was also the largest increase since 1990. While employers are not dropping coverage, most are passing on higher costs to employees. Over the past three years, the amount of the premium employees pay for family coverage has increased almost 50%, from $1,619 to $2,412. The typical family health insurance policy now costs $9,068, with employers on average paying 73% and employees paying 27%.

Latex: NE Sp Ct finds petitioner totally & permanently disabled Morris v. Nebraska Health System, S-01-1194, 266 Neb. 285

ABA Convention - Important WC/Medicare Panel--A Continuation of the Medicare Forum and Its Impact on the Workers' Compensation System--Monday, August 11, 2003, 7:30-9:30 a.m.--A special seminar with industry & labor experts from around the country discuss how to deal with CMO claims and still move cases!

 

 CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) issued a 2nd memorandum expanding its potential involvement in compensation matters in an effor...

 **Cases - Reported --Medical provider's failure to pursue an administrative remedy barred a subsequent common law action for indemnification. A...

The sole issue to be determined is whether the petitioner should pay any portion of the legal, medical, or other expenses incurred to prosecute his workers' compensation claim.

The Social Security/Medicare program had its genesis in President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" policies. During the succeeding Democratic administrations of Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson, it was developed into the "Great Society" approach, providing a social insurance program intended to operate not as welfare but as earned benefits. With the increasing focus on promptly providing necessary medical treatment to citizens, the Federal government's role of providing conditional payments has expanded, at tremendous cost.

 The Federal Government continues to struggle with the need to share data from workers' compensation (WC) programs an effort to reduce payment errors. While both systems provide benefits to injured workers, the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) reported, in a May 2001 study, that the lack of a uniform and consistent method to collect data on a national level has led to irregularities in the delivery of Federal benefits. 

Connie R. Gates, who was awarded total disability benefits by the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court, was awarded Social Security Disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income benefits as a result of her sensitivity to latex products. 

 As the available workforce in the United States continues to decrease to historically low levels, disabled workers are being enticed to enter a ...

Under the Social Security Act, "disability" means "inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months."