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Showing posts with label Law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Law. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Florida Businesses, Insurers to Fight Ruling Overturning Workers’ Comp System

The battle lines are being drawn in the State of Florida as the challenge to the FL workers' compensation law continues following a judicial ruling that the act was unconstitutional because it has been emasculated by Industry reform and its effectiveness diminished to point of rendering the act void.
Today's post is shared from .insurancejournal.com
A Florida circuit court judge has ruled that the state’s workers’ compensation law is unconstitutional because it no longer provides adequate benefits to injured workers giving up their right to sue.
Florida 11th Circuit Court Judge Jorge Cueto handed down the ruling in a case (Padgett v. State of Florida No. 11-13661 CA 25) that could upend the state’s nearly 80-year workers’ compensation law.
The case has its genesis in a 2012 instance where a state government worker, Elsa Padgett, sustained an on-the-job injury. After a fall, Padgett had to have a shoulder surgically replaced and was forced to retire due to complications.
Padgett, along with several trial bar groups, argued that her workers’ compensation benefits were inadequate and the law unfairly blocked her constitutional right to access the court.
The workers’ compensation system is by law the “exclusive remedy” for injured workers. Injured workers are provided medical benefits and certain wage-loss benefits in exchange for forgoing the right to sue their employer in court.
Cueto, in a 20-page ruling, avoided making any specific comments on the details of Padgett’s case other than to rule in her favor.
Instead, Cueto focused on the exclusive remedy provision of the law, finding that due to the many cuts in medical and wage-loss benefits made by lawmakers over the years, the system no longer represents a fair deal for injured workers.
Cueto singled-out workers’...
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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Chinese Hackers Pursue Key Data on U.S. Workers

The meaning of confidentiality appears to be strained daily by reports in the media that digital information is either made public by hacking and/or government access. Workers' Compensation by law in most jurisdiction has been built on a theoretical foundation of privacy and confidentiality. The ramification of disclosure of this information will bring discrimination to a level level of development that may may inhibit the filing of claims altogether. Today's post is share from the NYTimes.com and reflects a concern over the extent of data disclosure about US Workers.

Chinese hackers in March broke into the computer networks of the United States government agency that houses the personal information of all federal employees, according to senior American officials. They appeared to be targeting the files on tens of thousands of employees who have applied for top-secret security clearances.

The hackers gained access to some of the databases of the Office of Personnel Management before the federal authorities detected the threat and blocked them from the network, according to the officials. It is not yet clear how far the hackers penetrated the agency’s systems, in which applicants for security clearances list their foreign contacts, previous jobs and personal information like past drug use.

In response to questions about the matter, a senior Department of Homeland Security official confirmed that the attack had occurred but said that “at this time,”...

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Related articles

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Does font matter in workers' compensation court?

Curiously most workers' compensation court do not seem to set font or style requirements for pleadings. In some jurisdictions certain pleading may have rigid agency font requirements that automatically are imposed when the information is inputted into the computerized agency system. In other jurisdictions, and for general correspondence anything goes.

Does it make a difference is the question? Is is merely branding or is it a psychological tactic. Is recognition of the style so certain that hearing officials and other readers are conditioned to a certain response or argument by just glancing at the document? Many Federal courts level the playing field to universally mandated formats.

Ultimately it is recommended that your legal writing should look professional:

"The trick is to choose a font that looks clean and professional. It might not look the same as all those thousands of other court filings that the judges are expecting to look a certain way. But that’s probably not a bad thing. - See more at: http://blog.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/practice-of-law/legal-writing-font-matters/?cid=social_20140628_26504236#sthash.ulWNXwMb.dpuf

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Being Professional

Today's guest post is shared from David DePaolo from daviddepaolo.blogspot.com
The practice of workers' compensation law is relatively relaxed, at least in California, but I suspect the same in most of the rest of the country where it is an administrative system.

That's what attracted me to the practice in the first place nearly 30 years ago. Collegiality, informality - the emphasis was on substance over form, and the primary mission of the practice - delivering benefits to those entitled and discriminating against those not so entitled - took the forefront over everything else.

But relaxed doesn't mean sloppy, and does requires a higher level of self-discipline.

Unfortunately, too many people don't have the discipline to be let loose in an informal, relaxed legal system. Too many need more concrete barriers, more defined lines; perhaps because these folks lack the integrity or control to handle the responsibility that comes with such an insouciant practice.

Or perhaps these folks are, themselves, just sloppy and inconsiderate of the rules.

Rules - these are in place to make sure that everyone is playing on the same field, to keep anyone from having an unfair procedural advantage, and also to put checks and balances on the costs associated with litigation from the institutional perspective.

The California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board collected almost $300,000 in sanctions last year − three times the amount collected in 2012.

The WCAB had been warning...
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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

The Rule of Law and The Media's Role

Today's post is authored by David DePaolo and shared from workcompcentral.com
Those not living in California are befuddled by our system. Heck, even those living in California are befuddled...

Yesterday was also the start of the 21st annual California Division of Workers' Compensation Educational Conference in Los Angeles, CA, where the weather is a bit warmer than it is here in CT.

So too has the activity been a bit warmer in California - at the Educational Conference Acting Administrative Director Destie Overpeck gave an overview of what has been going on with the division since the directive of SB 863 to implement numerous changes to the system.

The list of work that the division has been engaged in is impressive, and demonstrates just how vast the changes were in SB 863:
  1. New rules to reduce payments to ambulatory surgery centers from 120% of Medicare’s outpatient rate to 80%;
  2. A new fee schedule for providers based on a Resource Based Relative Value Scale;
  3. A lien fee system (currently partially in abeyance due to legal challenges which also adds to the division's work load);
  4. New statute of limitations for lien filers;
  5. New Independent Medical Review process and procedures;
  6. New Independent Medical Bill review process and procedures;
  7. Revised Medical Provider Network approval and renewal process and rules;
  8. Pending fee schedule for copy services;New penalties for failures in notifications and standards for MPNs.
This is all in addition to the normal work load...
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Mining firm sentenced in workers' comp scheme

Today's post is shared from wvgazette.com
Leads continue to develop out of an investigation into a multimillion-dollar scheme aimed at lowering workers' compensation premiums for contract firms that provided workers to some of the state's largest coal producers, an assistant U.S. Attorney said Tuesday.
U.S. District Court Judge John Copenhaver said the "scam here has been extraordinary" before sentencing Aracoma Contracting LLC to three years probation and ordering restitution be paid.
The scheme involved former BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. auditor, Arville Sargent, who took bribes to help contract companies save millions in workers' compensation premiums by paying workers in cash and falsifying payroll records.
It involved four mining contract firms  -- Aracoma Contracting LLC, Christian Contracting, T&W Services LLC, and Newhall Contracting. The companies were controlled by Jerome Eddie Russell, Frelin Workman and his son, Randy Workman.
The four companies were "employee leasing" services that supplied miners for coal companies, including Alpha Natural Resources and Patriot Coal, under arrangements common in the state's mining industry.
Acting on behalf of Aracoma, its principals Russell, 50, of Williamson and Frelin R. Workman, 58, of Belfrey, Ky., formed a relationship with the Bank of Mingo, and one of its employees at the bank's Williamson branch.
Aracoma, Sargent and Workman must jointly pay back about $4.7 million in restitution. Aracoma must also...
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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Will GPS "Dots" Change Our Privacy Standards in Workers Compensation

As Global Positioning Systems (GPS) expand and integrate with the Internet, the applications for the invasion of privacy seem endless in workers' compensation. GPS "dots" can be applied to employees and/or equipment, to delineate deviation from the course of employment, temporary disability non-work status and treatment compliance.

After listening to the TED Radio Talk this week on NPR, where Todd Humphrey's describes possibilities to of using GPS "dots," one wonders how much privacy an injured employee will be required to surrender because of an accident at work.

Click here to listen to: TED Radio Hour - Predicting the Future


Friday, January 17, 2014

Dramatic Enrollment Drop Was Strategically Planned, Law School Says

A sign of the times. Today's post was shared by WSJ Law Blog and comes from blogs.wsj.com

The historic drop in enrollment at U.S. law schools has been the subject of anxious debate in the legal community. Some view the pattern as a symptom of a sluggish job market and growing skepticism about the value of a law degree.

According to Syracuse University’s College of Law, which has seen a particularly steep drop in its class sizes, the shrinking numbers are the result of smarter planning.

Syracuse’s Class of 2016 is nearly 25% smaller than its Class of 2014, decreasing from 255 to 196 over two years. The law school’s director of admissions, Nikki Laubenstein, spoke to the campus newspaper about the enrollment trend and offered this take:

“Our smaller class size is strategically managed and planned to provide the optimal level of engagement for our students with our law school faculty and programming opportunities,” she told the Daily Orange in an article published Wednesday.

The article doesn’t say how many applications the school is getting compared to previous years. In the face of shrinking demand, many law schools around the nation have slashed their class sizes to prop up student quality.

But Law Blog wonders — if a smaller class size was all part of a plan, as Syracuse’s admissions director suggests, does that mean the law school was offering a less than optimal educational experience when it was bigger? Ms. Laubenstein wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Meanwhile, Syracuse’s student body may...


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Sunday, January 12, 2014

Massachusettes Senator Seeks to Double Payment for Workers Killed on the Job

Following the deaths of two workers last month at Boston construction and shipping sites, Senator Brian A. Joyce and the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) are renewing their calls for passage of Joyce’s Bill, "The Families of Fallen Workers Burial Act," which would double the benefit amount paid by workers’ compensation when a loved one is killed at work.
“The amount paid out to grieving families has remained stagnant for decades while the cost of a burial has risen steadily,” said Joyce. “These families are going through enough already without the additional stress of coming up with thousands of dollars to put their loved ones to rest.”
According to the 2010 funeral price survey by the National Funeral Directors Association, the average funeral cost for an adult funeral is $7,775. With cemetery plot, grave marker, flowers or obituary notices, the “regular adult funeral” cost is at least $9,000. Joyce’s bill would increase the benefits allotment from $4,000 to roughly $8,000 (eight times the average weekly wage in the Commonwealth) and tie future increases to inflation.
“The Families of Fallen Workers Burial Act will ensure that no family has to shoulder the financial burden of a burial,” said MassCOSH Executive Director Marcy Goldstein-Gelb. “The increase adds up to very little for the workers’ compensation insurance system and will mean a huge difference...
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New York State is committed to improving outdated workers’ compensation system

Today's post is shared from buffalonews.com and is authored by Jeffrey Fenster, Executive Director of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo inherited a century-old workers’ compensation system in extreme dysfunction, caused by years of neglect and special interest lobbying. Independent research, such as studies by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute, shows that compared to other states, New York’s system is slow to pay injured workers and produces poor medical outcomes.

It is undisputed that prompt delivery of benefits is good for injured workers and reduces employer costs. Yet those most in need receive least, our workers wait longer for benefits and our costs to employers are the fifth highest in the nation. Things needed to change.

Already, under Cuomo’s administration, the Workers’ Compensation Board has been aggressive in improving the system. We fully implemented and continue improving upon the 2007 reform. That was followed by an increase in the minimum benefit from $100 to $150, protecting New York’s most vulnerable employees.

Simultaneously, the board tackled the high and rising cost of workers’ compensation assessments on employers. In March 2013, Cuomo signed the Business Relief Act, which included $800 million in assessment savings to employers in 2014 – a drop from 18.8 percent to 13.8 percent of premium. Ensuing years will see assessment savings of $300...
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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

NJ Senate to Vote on S613 - Workers Compensation Cost of Living Benefit Increase

On Thursday, January 9, 2014, the NJ Senate is scheduled to vote on S613, which is proposed legislation to increase workers' compensation benefits by implementing a cost of living allowance for some beneficiaries.
On December 19, 2013 the following amendments were adopted by the NJ Senate:
These Senate amendments provide:
1. That the periodic cost of living supplement that the bill
provides to an individual for total permanent disability or survivor’s
benefits under workers’ compensation will be reduced by the original
amount of that individual’s periodic Social Security survivor’s or
retirement benefits, but not reduced by subsequent cost of living
increases in those Social Security benefits; and
2. That, in the case of an individual who initially received Social
Security disability benefits and later receives Social Security
retirement benefits, or who dies and has dependents who receive
Social Security survivors’ benefits, the workers’ compensation
supplement will then be reduced by the amount of the Social Security
retirement or survivor benefits, exclusive of any cost of living increase
in those Social Security retirement or survivor benefits
S613:
1/9/2014 1:00:00 PM Senate
1000 AM  Committees at the Call of the Senate President
200 PM  Voting Session
Senate Chambers

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.asp?BillNumber=S613