US Supreme Court to Conference Medical Marijuana Preemption Case

The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is scheduled to conference the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision prohibiting reimbursement of medical marijuana costs in a workers’ compensation claim. The Petitioner for a Writ of Certiorari conference is listed for Thursday, June 16, 2022.  Musta v. Mendota Heights Dental Center, et al., No. 21-998.

NJ Supreme Holds Employers Responsible for Workers' Compensation Medical Marijuana Costs

The NJ Supreme has recognized that the workers’ compensation system has a legislative mandate to provide the safest medical care to cure and relieve occupational injuries. The Court acknowledged both state and Federal trends to provide non-addictive and non-fatal pain relief in place of the dangerous opioids. 

 

The intent that embraced the creation and development of the social insurance system has given the Court a rational and logical basis, consistent with public policy, to order medical marijuana for palliative care.

Air Ambulance Billing Issues Appealed to US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court  (SCOTUS) is being asked to review the pre-emption issue involving  air ambulance billing charges. A Petition for Certiorari was filed by PHI Air Medical, LLC following the denial of the Texas Supreme Court to honor the full air ambulance billing changes in a workers’ compensation claim.

Federal Preemption of State Medical Billing Schedules

Medical benefits are a significant factor in the overall costs of of most state workers compensation programs. The ability to contain  those costs is at the very heart of the viability of most workers’ compensation systems. Federal preemption of state medical fee schedules and regulations are a prevailing challenge to the patchwork of non-uniform state benefit programs.

CMS Cannot Seek Reimbursement from Insurance Guarantee Fund

The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid [CMS] cannot not seek reimbursement from from the California Insurance Guarantee Association for workers' compensation payments.

Surveillance drones: Coming soon to Nebraska workers’ compensation?

Today's guest author is Jon Rehm, Esq. of the Nebraska bar.

Last summer Brody posted about the possibility of drone surveillance in workers’ compensation cases in Nebraska. Some new developments lead me to believe that drone surveillance of injured workers in Nebraska may be coming soon.

Fighting Wage Preemption: How Workers Have Lost Billions in Wages and How We Can Restore Local Democracy

Today’s post is shared from nelp.org

Local governments, like cities and counties, have long implemented local policies—including higher minimum wages—to improve economic conditions.

Local efforts to raise the wage floor have seen a tremendous upsurge over the past six years, mostly as a result of the Fight for $15 movement, which began in late November 2012 in New York when fast food workers walked off the job, demanding

$15 and a union. The movement quickly spread throughout the country, and its impact has been remarkable: More than 40 cities and counties have adopted their own minimum wage laws, and as of late 2018, an estimated 22 million workers have won $68 billion in raises since the Fight for $15 began.

In response to this explosion in local minimum wage activity, a number of states— particularly those with conservative legislatures—have sought to shut down these gains by adopting “preemption” laws that prohibit cities and counties from adopting local minimum wages, as well as a wide range of other pro-worker policies. The state preemption of local minimum wages disenfranchises workers and exacerbates racial inequality when it disproportionately impacts communities of color who are overrepresented among low-wage workers1 and who often represent majorities in our cities and large metro areas.

The most significant force behind the recent wave of preemption laws nationwide is the corporate lobby. Failing to stop the adoption of local pro-worker laws, the corporate lobby has persuaded state-level lawmakers to revoke the underlying local authority to adopt such policies, in some cases rolling back wage increases that were already enacted by city and county governments. In doing so, the corporate lobby has not only captured the political lever closest to the people (their city or county government), it has also hampered the democratic process at its most intimate level.

A total of 25 states have statutes preempting local minimum wage laws. To date, 12 cities and counties in six states (Alabama, Iowa, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin) have approved local minimum wage laws only to see them invalidated by state statute, harming hundreds of thousands of workers in the process, many of whom face high levels of poverty.

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900jon@gelmans.com has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

US Supreme Court Asked to Review MSP Preemption Issue

The US Supreme Court has been asked to review a claim on behalf of an injured worker who asserts that the Medicare Secondary Payer Act did not preempt State law (i.e.. Texas) that required a Workers' Compensation claimant to obtain preauthorization from relevant insurance carriers before incurring certain medical expenses. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Medicare's conditional payment for a workers surgeries did not render the  state law mandate for  preauthorization requirements "moot."

A Writ of Certiorari was filed with the US Supreme Court on Aug. 8, 2012 and a response is due September 11, 2013 

Guadalupe Caldera v. Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, US Supreme Court Docket No. 12-40192. Case below, 716 F 3d 861, Docket No, 12-40192, 5th Cir Ct Appeals, Decided May 14, 2013.

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Jon L.Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

State Law Does Not Preempt State Medical Authorization Criteria

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that The Texas Workers' Compensation Act does not preempt the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) 42 U.S.C.§ 1395y(b), as to the state statute's mandated requirement to obtain preauthorization for medical care. 

The Court ruled that.  "...Congress explicitly prohibited workers' compensation and other insurers from subordinating their payment obligations to those of Medicare." "....Congress intended the MSP to complement, not supplant, state workers' compensation rules."

Caldera v. Insurance Co, of the State of PA, ____ F.3rd ___, 2013 WL 1975660 C.A.5 (Tex), 2013. Decided May 14, 2013.

OSHA's Intent Is Not To Preempt State Tort Law Claims by the HazCom Standard

My thanks to attorney, Steven H. Wodka of Little Silver, NJ, for sending this information:

"Those of you who handle toxic torts may have seen defense motions to dismiss your

clients’ failure to warn claims based on the argument that such claims are preempted by OSHA’s hazard communication standard.  Their argument is based on an unpublished NJ Appellate Division decision, Bass v. Air Products & Chemicals Inc., et al., Docket No.  A-4542-03T3, decided May 25, 2006.