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Showing posts with label Legislation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Legislation. Show all posts

Friday, March 4, 2022

Legislation Would Improve Access To Resources And Education For People Living With Long COVID

Long-COVID, Post Acute COVID Syndrome. [PASC] is a compensable illness that many workers now suffer from and seek workers’ compensation benefits. The medical condition affects approximately one-third of those who have contracted COVID. It is a  costly and incapacitating condition that lingers long after the acute stage of SARS-CoV-2 passes. 

Saturday, August 25, 2018

NJ Gov Murphy Signs Law Increasing Workers' Compensation Counsel Fees

NJ Governor Phil Murphy has signed into law legislation that increases counsel fees in Workers' Compensation claims. The law requires the assessment of counsel fees on all offers and tenders made by an employer or insurance companies. The Act is effective immediately. 

Counsel fees are now to be determined in cases in which a workers’ compensation petitioner has received compensation from an insurance company or self-insured employer prior to any judgment or
NJ Gov. Phil Murphy
award. The reasonable attorney fee is to based upon the amount of the compensation received after the establishment of an attorney-client relationship (as memorialized in a written agreement), plus any amount of the judgment or award which is in excess of the previously received compensation. Under former law, in such cases involving insurance or self-insurance compensation, the attorney fee was based solely on any amount of a judgment or award that is in excess of the amount of previously received compensation.

Friday, July 24, 2015

Social Security Disability Solvency: The Backbone of Workers' Compensation

The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) system is estimated to run out of money in 2016 and the consequences, if not patched-up by legislation, are going to critical to the nation's patchwork of workers' compensation programs. Since its inception over 50 years ago, SSDI has been the safety net, especially in reserve offset states. It is the backbone of a program to support injured workers.

Over the decades, for numerous economic, social and political factors, the nation's workers' compensation program has continued to diminish in it's ability to deliver as intended. Both the medical and indemnity components have been difficult to obtain, and have restricted what they do deliver.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

GOP Majority’s Agenda Includes Fast Action On Health Law Issues

Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from kaiserhealthnews.org

News outlets report that Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate's new majority leader, plans to take action to undo some parts of the health law, but he acknowledges that a full repeal is unlikely. Also, some reports examine goals of other Republican congressional leaders
The Washington Post: New Senate Majority Leader’s Main Goal For GOP: Don’t Be Scary
Mitch McConnell has an unusual admonition for the new Republican majority as it takes over the Senate this week: Don’t be “scary.” The incoming Senate majority leader has set a political goal for the next two years of overseeing a functioning, reasonable majority on Capitol Hill that scores some measured conservative wins, particularly against environmental regulations, but probably not big victories such as a full repeal of the health-care law. McConnell’s priority is to set the stage for a potential GOP presidential victory in 2016. (Kane, 1/4)
The Associated Press: New GOP Senate Chairmen Aim To Undo Obama Policies
Republican senators poised to lead major committees when the GOP takes charge are intent on pushing back many of President Barack Obama's policies, ... Tennessee's Lamar Alexander, 74, is a former education secretary under President George H.W. Bush, governor and president of the University of Tennessee. … He's called the health care law a "historic mistake" and supports repealing it. He's also said modernizing the National Institutes of Health and Food and...
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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Kansas, The Next Target: Unions expect difficult legislative session in 2014

Today's post is shared from cjonline.com

Negative legislation for workers included changes in workers’ compensation, collective bargaining and project labor agreements, which are agreements that set wages on particular construction jobs, said Andy Sanchez, executive secretary-treasurer of the Kansas AFL-CIO.

The Kansas Legislature passed a number of bills unions believe are unfavorable to workers during the
2013 session, and such actions remind the Kansas AFL-CIO to stay focused on its job in the
Sunflower State: to represent all working people, not just union members.

“I think there’s a lot of negative legislation that’s been passed in the past couple of years regarding unemployment benefits,” Sanchez said. “They reduced the number of weeks and workers comp benefits. We think that’s going to hurt a lot of people and we think it’s already hurting our economy.”

The project labor agreement changes stop government entities from requiring union-level wages on jobs. Unemployment benefits were changed to allow employers to avoid paying benefits if the employee broke even minor rules, such as failing to wear a name tag or being late.

Such anti-worker legislation, Sanchez said, made it even more important for local unions to work together in the political process. At the 24th biennial convention recently, leaders tried to stay ahead of the political process by throwing support behind candidates for the next election, even though it is a year out.

“This...
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Proposed Asbestos Legislation Called "A Subterfuge" to Alter the Civil Justice System


H.R. 982, the “Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2013.


"Asbestos defendants and insurance companies, under the guise of creating increased 
“transparency,” are introducing proposed legislation in state legislatures to grant solvent asbestos  defendants new rights and advantages to be used against asbestos victims in court. Some of these  bills would also burden the asbestos trusts with unnecessary reporting requirements, slowing  their ability to pay claims, and further draining them of the resources needed to make their  already diminished payments. In general, the bills are an attempt to change the rules of the tort system to provide defendants with an advantage, using the existence of the trusts and claims of a lack of “transparency” as a subterfuge."

Elihu Inselbuch, Member, Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, Testimony, Hearing: March 13, 2013
H.R. 982, the “Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2013”
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE ON REGULATORY REFORM, COMMERCIAL AND ANTITRUST LAW

Friday, December 28, 2012

Legislation Goes to President Obama on CMS Condition Payment Procedures

The US House (H.R. 1845) and US Senate has passed legislation to modify procedures for processing conditional payments under the Medicare (S. 1718) Secondary Payer Act. It establishes parameters for repording, processing and appealing issues concerning conditional payments.

Under the proposed legislation time periods for reporting by parties to CMS (The Center for Medeicare and Medicaid Services) are eased, penalities for insurance carriers are reduced, and a 3 year statute of limitations is established.

The legislation was merged into another pending bill for medical services and was rushed to a favorable vote in both the House and Senate in the last moments before Christmas.

What remains to be determined are the regulations that will be established to implement the legislation. In the past, such regulations usually set boundries for such legislation and may in the end further complicate and even prolong resolution of the issues.

Read more about "The Medicare Secondary Payer Act" and workers' compensation


Oct 01, 2012
US Supreme Court Denies CMS-MSP Case - Hadden. 2012 WL 1106757. Supreme Court of the United States. HADDEN, VERNON V. UNITED STATES. No. 11-1197.Oct. 1, 2012. Opinion. The petition for writ of certiorari is ...
Apr 03, 2009
CMS/MSP Requires Deceased Beneficiary Information. CMS has announced that workers' compensation information concerning deceased beneficiaries must be reported by insurance carriers. "We received another question ...
May 18, 2011
"IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant's demand for payment of her MSP reimbursement claims, under threat of collection actions before there has been a resolution of an appeal regarding the amount of the Defendant's ...
Dec 23, 2008
A formal process exits to obtain a waiver of an Overpayment Recovery request from The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS]. If SSA advises you or your client that it has made an overpayment, ie. Medicare ...