Jon Gelman’s* newly revised and updated treatise on Workers’ Compensation Law is now available from Thomson Reuters®. The treatise is the most complete and research-integrated work on NJ Workers’ Compensation law.
Showing posts sorted by date for query study commission. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query study commission. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Saturday, August 27, 2022
NJ Workers at Risk Now for West Nile Virus
New Jersey workers again are now at risk for West Nile Virus. The warnings of the mosquito-borne illness are an alert for New Jersey workers to take adequate precautions against this infectious disease.The New Jersey Department of Health has confirmed the state’s first human cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) this year.
Monday, February 7, 2022
Order: Workers' Compensation Law 2022 Update
Jon Gelman’s* newly revised and updated treatise on Workers’ Compensation Law can now be ordered from Thomson Reuters®. The treatise is the most complete and research integrated work available on NJ Workers’ Compensation law.
Friday, February 12, 2021
Just Published - Workers' Compensation Law 2021 COVID-19 Update
Jon Gelman’s* newly revised and the updated treatise on Workers’ Compensation Law has been published by Thomson Reuters®. The treatise is the most complete and research integrated work available on NJ Workers’ Compensation law. Updated annually for over 35 years, this body of work provides practical tips, objective analysis, and academic support for the workers' compensation community.
Monday, July 20, 2020
Coronavirus (COVID-19) - The workers' compensation community should support TTSI
The workers' compensation community should play an active role to contain the spread of COIVD-19. Labor, Industry and insurance companies must be encouraged to participate in contact tracing, testing and supported isolation [TTSI]. All reports of illness and incidents of COVID-19 should trigger reportable investigations that are co-ordinated with local and state health agencies. Communication with employees should be encouraged for testing, isolation and expansion of contact testing.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
NJ Gov Murphy Announces Legislation to Overhaul New Jersey’s Anti-Workplace Harassment Laws for Public and Private Employers
Division on Civil Rights (DCR) Releases Corresponding Report Following Three Public Hearings Held by DCR and the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NJCASA) in September 2019
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
NJ Benefits to Increase for Certain Injuries and a Study Commission Will Review System Going Forward
NJ Governor Murphy has signed legislation to increase certain workers' compensation benefits and also require the appointment of a study commission to review and recommend changes to the State's workers' compensation system going forward.
Friday, November 2, 2018
The Evidence Mounts on the Causal Link of Cell Phones and Cancer
The US National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences [NIH} has just published a final report linking cell phone radiation exposure to the production of tumors in mice. This animal study that confirms the causal relationship between radio frequency radiation of cell phones and cancer in animals is a significant step forward to establishing a causal relationship in humans.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
The State of Medical Care in California’s Workers’ Compensation System
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| Katherine Roe |
Todays' guest post is authored by Katie Roe* of the California Bar and was originally published at rivercityattorneys.com/blog (Fraulob & Brown).
When you’re injured at work, you expect that your employer’s insurance carrier will dutifully provide you with proper medical treatment for your injury. After all, future medical care is one of the “benefits” injured workers are entitled to in California. Denial of medical treatment is the number one frustration we hear from our clients on a daily basis.
What injured workers quickly discover is that their medical treatment is strictly controlled by the insurance carrier and their medical fate is in the hands of a doctor who has never treated them and may not even have their complete medical records. This process is called Utilization Review (UR). Under UR an outside physician gets to decide whether or not the insurance company should authorize the medical treatment prescribed by your primary treating physician. This doctor doesn’t even have to be licensed in California.
If the medical treatment prescribed by your physician is denied, your only recourse is to appeal the decision to an Independent Medical Reviewed (IMR). In California, MAXIMUS is the company contracted to conduct IMR reviews. Like UR doctors, the IMR doctor deciding your fate, has never met you or treated you and does not need to be licensed in California. In fact, their identity is protected. If your medical treatment is denied by UR, your chances of IMR overturning the decision are not good. California Workers’ Compensation Institute, an insurance research group, found that 91% of IMR decisions uphold the UR denial. If the treatment is denied by IMR, absent a change in circumstances, the denial will be in effect for one year.
While an injured worker has the right to appeal an IMR determination to the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, the only legal bases on which to appeal are fraud, conflict of interest, or mistake of fact. However, even if your appeal is successful the WCAB still cannot overturn the IMR doctor’s decision. If an appeal is granted, the remedy is referral to a different IMR for another review. Yes, you read that right, your award is to go through the IMR process again!
Many injured workers end up seeking treatment for their work related injuries through private insurance, Medicare or Medi-Cal. A study by J. Paul Leigh, a health economist at the University of California, Davis, estimated that only 1/3 of necessary medical treatment and lost wages is being paid for by workers’ compensation insurers.
The lack of adequate medical care for injured workers today is the result of Senate Bill 863, which was passed on August 1, 2012 and signed into law by Governor Brown on September 18, 2012. This law was the result of lobbying by big businesses and insurance companies, who have influence over the State Legislature and the Governor of California. We remind our clients that you also have a political voice. We recommend you go to Voters Injured at Work (www.viaw.org) for information on how to become involved with fixing this broken system.
To read more about the dismal state of medical treatment for injured workers all over America I encourage you to read Insult to Injury by Michael Grabell athttps://www.propublica.org/article/the-demolition-of-workers-compensation.
*Katherine Roe is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul Minnesota for her undergraduate degree in Sociology with a minor in Criminal Justice. She earned her Master in Public Administration from University of Notre Dame de Namur, Belmont, CA. Katie graduated from University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento where she received the Witkin Award for Health Law and Elder Law Clinic. She is a practicing attorney in the areas of Workers’ Compensation Law, Social Security Disability and Elder Law, including estate planning with wills, trusts, deeds, powers of attorney and health care directives.
While in college, Katie tutored grade school and high school students in low-income neighborhoods in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, MN and interned with the Oakdale, MN Police Department.
During law school, Katie interned with Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, Human Rights Fair Housing Commission and the California Department of Insurance. While at McGeorge, she worked in the Elder and Health Law Clinic where she handled Medicare appeals, elder abuse cases, restraining orders, wills, trusts, consumer protection, special needs trusts, and powers of attorney.
While the Clinical Fellow at McGeorge she received the Cohn Sisters’ Scholarship for Patient Advocacy.
While in college, Katie tutored grade school and high school students in low-income neighborhoods in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, MN and interned with the Oakdale, MN Police Department.
During law school, Katie interned with Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, Human Rights Fair Housing Commission and the California Department of Insurance. While at McGeorge, she worked in the Elder and Health Law Clinic where she handled Medicare appeals, elder abuse cases, restraining orders, wills, trusts, consumer protection, special needs trusts, and powers of attorney.
While the Clinical Fellow at McGeorge she received the Cohn Sisters’ Scholarship for Patient Advocacy.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Workers' Exposure to Low Dose Radiation Linked to Leukemia and Lymphoma
Workers exposed to low doses of radiation have been reported to experience an increased risk to Leukemia and Lymphoma.
A study published in The Lancet reports strong evidence of positive associations between protracted low-dose radiation exposure and leukemia.
Evidence before this study:
Ionising radiation causes leukaemia. The primary quantitative basis for radiation protection standards comes from studies of populations exposed to acute, high doses of ionising radiation. Although previous studies of nuclear workers addressed leukaemia radiogenicity, questions remain about the size of the risk from protracted radiation exposure in occupational settings.
Added value of this study:
We report a positive dose–response relationship between cumulative, external, protracted, low-dose exposure to ionising radiation, and subsequent death caused by leukeamia (excluding chronic lymphocytic leukaemia). The risk coefficient per unit dose was consistent with those derived from analyses of other populations exposed to higher radiation doses and dose rates.
Implications of all the available evidence:
The present study provides strong evidence of a positive association between radiation exposure and leukaemia even for low-dose exposure. This finding shows the importance of adherence to the basic principles of radiation protection—to optimise protection to reduce exposures as much as reasonably achievable and—in the case of patient exposure—to justify that the exposure does more good than harm.
A study published in The Lancet reports strong evidence of positive associations between protracted low-dose radiation exposure and leukemia.
Evidence before this study:
Ionising radiation causes leukaemia. The primary quantitative basis for radiation protection standards comes from studies of populations exposed to acute, high doses of ionising radiation. Although previous studies of nuclear workers addressed leukaemia radiogenicity, questions remain about the size of the risk from protracted radiation exposure in occupational settings.
Added value of this study:
We report a positive dose–response relationship between cumulative, external, protracted, low-dose exposure to ionising radiation, and subsequent death caused by leukeamia (excluding chronic lymphocytic leukaemia). The risk coefficient per unit dose was consistent with those derived from analyses of other populations exposed to higher radiation doses and dose rates.
Implications of all the available evidence:
The present study provides strong evidence of a positive association between radiation exposure and leukaemia even for low-dose exposure. This finding shows the importance of adherence to the basic principles of radiation protection—to optimise protection to reduce exposures as much as reasonably achievable and—in the case of patient exposure—to justify that the exposure does more good than harm.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Professor John F Burton Jr: Illinois Proposed Changes Are Obectionable
The former chair of the 1972 National Commission on Workers' Compensation told the Illinois legislature yesterday that the proposed changes to the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act will degrade the system and reduce benefits to injured workers. Profession Emeritis John F. Burton, Jr., yesterday presented a statement to the Committee of the Whole before the Illinois House of Representatives.
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| Professor John F. Burton Jr. |
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Study Urges Greater Financial Disclosure by Nonprofit Integrated Health Systems
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Based on publicly available information, there is scant evidence to back up claims by large, nonprofit integrated health systems that they deliver higher quality care more efficiently, according to a new study released today from the nonpartisan National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). The report will be discussed at a 2pm panel on trends in provider consolidation during a Federal Trade Commission / Department of Justice live webcasted workshop on “Examining Health Care Competition.”
Along with a comprehensive review of the academic literature, the study included an analysis of publicly available quality and financial information from 15 of the largest nonprofit integrated delivery networks (IDNs) across the country, including Henry Ford Health System in Detroit; North Shore-LIJ Health System in suburban New York; Intermountain Healthcare in Utah/Idaho; Sutter Health in Northern California; BayCare Health System in Tampa/St. Petersburg; and Geisinger Health System in Central Pennsylvania.
The study defined IDNs as vertically integrated health services networks that include hospitals, physicians, post-acute services and sometimes health plans with a stated purpose to coordinate care across the continuum of health services and to manage population health; or fully integrated provider systems inside a health plan (e.g. with no other source of income than premiums).
"Some of the nation’s finest hospitals and clinical staffs can...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
Along with a comprehensive review of the academic literature, the study included an analysis of publicly available quality and financial information from 15 of the largest nonprofit integrated delivery networks (IDNs) across the country, including Henry Ford Health System in Detroit; North Shore-LIJ Health System in suburban New York; Intermountain Healthcare in Utah/Idaho; Sutter Health in Northern California; BayCare Health System in Tampa/St. Petersburg; and Geisinger Health System in Central Pennsylvania.
The study defined IDNs as vertically integrated health services networks that include hospitals, physicians, post-acute services and sometimes health plans with a stated purpose to coordinate care across the continuum of health services and to manage population health; or fully integrated provider systems inside a health plan (e.g. with no other source of income than premiums).
"Some of the nation’s finest hospitals and clinical staffs can...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
New Testing Reveals Hidden Dangerous Chemicals in Popular Halloween Costumes and "Trick or Treat" Bags
Study Finds Costumes and Party Supplies Sold by Top Retailers Contain Hazardous Additives
(Ann Arbor, MI) -- A study released today by the Ecology Center's HealthyStuff.org project has found elevated levels of toxic chemicals in popular Halloween costumes, accessories and party supplies. The nonprofit Ecology Center tested 106 Halloween products for substances linked to asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, reproductive problems, liver toxicity and cancer. The products were purchased from top national retailers including CVS, Kroger, Party City, Target, Walmart, and Walgreens.
Media Resources:
"We found that seasonal products, like thousands of other products we have tested, are full of dangerous chemicals," said Jeff Gearhart, HealthyStuff.org research director. "Poorly regulated toxic chemicals consistently show up in seasonal products. Hazardous chemicals in consumer products pose unnecessary and avoidable health hazards to children, consumers, communities, workers and our environment."
HealthyStuff.org tested Halloween products for chemicals based on their toxicity or tendency to build up in people and the environment. These chemicals include lead, bromine (brominated flame retardants), chlorine (vinyl/PVC plastic), phthalates, arsenic, and tin (organotins).
Some products contained multiple chemical hazards, including a Toddler Batman Muscle Costume whose belt contained 29% regulated phthalates, 340 ppm tin, and lead in the lining of the mask at 120 ppm. Overall, 39% of the vinyl products contained tin at levels suggesting organotin stabilizers, which are endocrine disruptors and can damage the developing brain and immune system.
“As a mom, I was disturbed to learn that some products children will be using for Halloween tested positive for toxic chemicals,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (New York). “Testing of these products is a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done to better inform consumers so that we are keeping our families safe. I will continue to advocate for legislation in Congress to ensure that my sons and millions of other children are not exposed to toxic chemicals.”
Exposure to toxic chemicals is cumulative and comes from many sources, including diet, air, dust and direct contact with products. Moreover, chemicals being released from products throughout their life cycle are increasingly being recognized as important sources of exposure. In conjunction with the release, advocates with the Mind the Store campaign launched a new national online petition to major retailers calling on them to eliminate these hazardous chemicals in consumer products such as Halloween costumes and accessories.
"Our nation's biggest retailers have a responsibility to their customers to sell safe products, especially when it comes to our children," said Mike Schade, Mind the Store Campaign Director for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. "Their considerable market share gives them the power and the responsibility to demand safer chemicals and products from their suppliers. This new testing underscores the need for big retailers to ensure products on their shelves, such as Halloween costumes, don't contain toxic chemicals."
The Mind the Store Campaign, coordinated by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, is challenging the nation's top ten US retailers to get tough on toxic chemicals. Chemicals highlighted in the new HealthyStuff.org Halloween study are on the Hazardous 100+ list of dangerous chemicals, which advocates have been calling for retailers to disclose, eliminate, and safely substitute. Over the past year, both Walmart and Target have made strides in launching new initiatives to disclose and limit the use of certain toxic chemicals.
The results of this study are available on the easy-to-use consumer website - www.HealthyStuff.org and build on recent HealthyStuff studies on back-to-school products, summer seasonal and beach products and university-themed products. The majority of these seasonal or specialty products contain one or more toxic chemicals. Due to the fact that many consumer products are largely unregulated, the items tested sometimes have levels of toxic chemicals that exceed the regulated levels set for children's products and toys.
In addition to finding many products with chemical hazards, HealthyStuff.org test data shows that many Halloween products do not contain dangerous substances, proving that safer products can be made. For example, the results show shifts in some products away from hazardous phthalate plasticizers to less hazardous non-phthalate plasticizers. The represents a market shift in the face of growing consumer and regulatory pressure.
Highlights of findings from HealthyStuff.org's Halloween product study:
- Thirty-three of the 106 tested Halloween products contained polyvinyl chloride (vinyl or PVC) components.
- Seventeen of the vinyl products were tested for phthalate plasticizers. Of these, two items contained phthalates that were recently banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in children's products. One of these was a Toddler Batman Muscle Costume purchased at Walmart. In the costume's yellow belt, HealthyStuff.org measured 29% regulated phthalates (290,000 ppm) and 340 ppm tin. Lead was detected in the mask inner lining at 120 ppm. Overall, five percent of all products were measured to have lead exceeding 100 ppm.
- The study also documented an ongoing shift away from phthalate plasticizers in flexible vinyl products. Tests showed that fifteen of the vinyl items tested were plasticized with the less toxic chemical DOTP.
- Ten percent of the products contained levels of bromine consistent with brominated flame retardants. Two Disney-themed Trick-or-Treat bags purchased at Kroger, for example, contained 28,000 ppm and 6,000 ppm bromine, respectively. Halloween light sets purchased at Walgreen's and CVS contained similarly high amounts of bromine.
- Many of the products with brominated flame retardants also contained high levels of antimony, suggesting an antimony-based flame retardant was used in addition to the brominated chemicals.
- Thirty-nine percent of the vinyl products, ranging from dress-up shoes to a skeleton "light stick," contained tin at levels suggesting organotin stabilizers. Vinyl products were twice as likely to contain tin as non-vinyl materials. Some forms of organotins are endocrine disruptors; other forms can impact the developing brain and damage the immune system.
To analyze the Halloween products, researchers used a High Definition X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, Infrared Spectroscopy and laboratory testing. XRF is an accurate device that has been used by the Environmental Protection Agency to screen packaging, the Food & Drug Administration to screen food, and many State and County Health Departments to screen for residential lead paint. Additional samples were analyzed by laboratories using EPA test methods.
Complete product sample data, photos of products tested, and more information about what consumers can do is available now at www.HealthyStuff.org.
Non-Toxic Halloween Tips
- Contact your favorite retailer and ask them to sell non-toxic supplies.
- Avoid vinyl products: select cloth and natural materials for costumes and decorations.
- Make up and masks: Use paint and pencils made from clay or other natural ingredients, or make your own.
- Trick or Treating: use old pillowcases or reusable shopping bags
- Pumpkins: Roast and eat the seeds and compost the pumpkin when you're done.
- Decorations: Avoid plastics and instead use paper, cardboard, leaves or other natural and recyclable materials for your decorations.
More detailed tips available at HealthyStuff.org.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
NH Governor Hassan Creates Workers’ Compensation Commission for Reform
In order to help reduce workers’ compensation costs that are a burden on New Hampshire businesses and ensure that injured workers have access to high-quality care, Governor Maggie Hassan today issued an Executive Order creating the Commission to Recommend Reforms to Reduce Workers’ Compensation Medical Costs.
“Employers and workers have done their part to increase workplace safety, but New Hampshire has become one of the most expensive states in the nation for workers’ compensation, a burden on businesses across the state,” Governor Hassan said. “By bringing together business leaders and experts from insurance, health care and labor, the Commission to Recommend Reforms to Reduce Workers’ Compensation Medical Costs provides an opportunity for stakeholders to identify ways to reduce workers’ compensation medical costs and ensure that injured workers have access to quality care. With these reforms, our businesses will be able to re-invest these dollars in growing their companies, creating new jobs and keeping our economy moving in the right direction.”
Tasked with making recommendations to reform New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation system, the commission will review the data behind New Hampshire’s high workers’ compensation costs; analyze efforts by other states to successfully reduce workers’ compensation costs; review how other states ensure continued access to quality care for injured workers; and develop comprehensive reforms that will reduce costs and premiums and improve New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation system while ensuring that injured workers have access to quality care.
According to the Oregon Workers Compensation Rate Ranking Study, New Hampshire rose from the 14th-most expensive state for workers’ compensation coverage in the country in 2008 to the ninth-most expensive in 2012. In addition, data from the National Council on Compensation Insurance shows that workers’ compensation surgical procedures in New Hampshire are 83 percent more expensive than those in the region and more than twice as expensive as they are nationally. For more information on New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation costs, visit www.nh.gov/insurance/media/pr/2014/documents/052214.pdf
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“New Hampshire is among the most expensive states for workers’ compensation, an unnecessary disadvantage for businesses that operate here,” said New Hampshire Insurance Department Commissioner Roger Sevigny. “I look forward to working with the commission to improve our workers’ compensation system by making recommendations to reduce costs and premiums while ensuring that workers have access to quality care.”
Commissioner Sevigny will be the chairman of the Commission to Recommend Reforms to Reduce Workers’ Compensation Medical Costs. He will be joined on the commission by New Hampshire Department of Labor Commissioner Jim Craig or a designee from the department, as well as a diverse group of experts representing workers, employers, insurance professionals and the health care sector.
The Commission’s final report is due to the Governor on December 1, 2014.
Other members of the commission are:
Brian Allen, Vice President of Government Affairs at HELIOS (formerly Progressive Medical/PMSI)
Donald F. Baldini, AVP and State Affairs Officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance
Pamela Bronson, Administrator at Access Sports Medicine & Orthopedics
Paul W. Chant of Cooper Cargill Chant
Tammy Denver, Director of Claims & Coverage Programs at NH Public Risk Management Exchange (Primex3)
Edward Dudley, Executive Vice President/CFO of Catholic Medical Center
Mark Erdody, Director of New England Claims for Cove Risk Services, LLC
Marc Lacroix, New Hampshire Physical Therapy Association and Director of Specialty Services at Concord Hospital
David Lang, President of Professional Firefighters of NH
Mark Mackenzie, President of NH AFL-CIO
Peter McNamara, President of NH Automobile Dealers Association
Dr. Gregory Soghikian of New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center
Ben Wilcox, President & General Manager of Cranmore Mountain Resort
Full text of the Governor’s Executive Order
“Employers and workers have done their part to increase workplace safety, but New Hampshire has become one of the most expensive states in the nation for workers’ compensation, a burden on businesses across the state,” Governor Hassan said. “By bringing together business leaders and experts from insurance, health care and labor, the Commission to Recommend Reforms to Reduce Workers’ Compensation Medical Costs provides an opportunity for stakeholders to identify ways to reduce workers’ compensation medical costs and ensure that injured workers have access to quality care. With these reforms, our businesses will be able to re-invest these dollars in growing their companies, creating new jobs and keeping our economy moving in the right direction.”
Tasked with making recommendations to reform New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation system, the commission will review the data behind New Hampshire’s high workers’ compensation costs; analyze efforts by other states to successfully reduce workers’ compensation costs; review how other states ensure continued access to quality care for injured workers; and develop comprehensive reforms that will reduce costs and premiums and improve New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation system while ensuring that injured workers have access to quality care.
According to the Oregon Workers Compensation Rate Ranking Study, New Hampshire rose from the 14th-most expensive state for workers’ compensation coverage in the country in 2008 to the ninth-most expensive in 2012. In addition, data from the National Council on Compensation Insurance shows that workers’ compensation surgical procedures in New Hampshire are 83 percent more expensive than those in the region and more than twice as expensive as they are nationally. For more information on New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation costs, visit www.nh.gov/insurance/media/pr/2014/documents/052214.pdf
.“New Hampshire is among the most expensive states for workers’ compensation, an unnecessary disadvantage for businesses that operate here,” said New Hampshire Insurance Department Commissioner Roger Sevigny. “I look forward to working with the commission to improve our workers’ compensation system by making recommendations to reduce costs and premiums while ensuring that workers have access to quality care.”
Commissioner Sevigny will be the chairman of the Commission to Recommend Reforms to Reduce Workers’ Compensation Medical Costs. He will be joined on the commission by New Hampshire Department of Labor Commissioner Jim Craig or a designee from the department, as well as a diverse group of experts representing workers, employers, insurance professionals and the health care sector.
The Commission’s final report is due to the Governor on December 1, 2014.
Other members of the commission are:
Brian Allen, Vice President of Government Affairs at HELIOS (formerly Progressive Medical/PMSI)
Donald F. Baldini, AVP and State Affairs Officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance
Pamela Bronson, Administrator at Access Sports Medicine & Orthopedics
Paul W. Chant of Cooper Cargill Chant
Tammy Denver, Director of Claims & Coverage Programs at NH Public Risk Management Exchange (Primex3)
Edward Dudley, Executive Vice President/CFO of Catholic Medical Center
Mark Erdody, Director of New England Claims for Cove Risk Services, LLC
Marc Lacroix, New Hampshire Physical Therapy Association and Director of Specialty Services at Concord Hospital
David Lang, President of Professional Firefighters of NH
Mark Mackenzie, President of NH AFL-CIO
Peter McNamara, President of NH Automobile Dealers Association
Dr. Gregory Soghikian of New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center
Ben Wilcox, President & General Manager of Cranmore Mountain Resort
Full text of the Governor’s Executive Order
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Differences in Care at For-Profit Hospices
People who pay attention to hospice care, so often a godsend for the dying and their families, have noticed and wondered about two trends in recent years:
1) What began as a grass-roots movement to improve end-of-life care is becoming a business. In 1990, only 5 percent of hospices were for-profit operations; by last year, they dominated the industry, representing 63 percent of hospices. 2) We’ve also seen that hospice patients are increasingly likely to be “disenrolled” before they die. Once, this was a rare event; the greater problem was that patients waited until the eleventh hour to enroll, subjecting themselves and their families to unnecessary stress and suffering. |
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Georgia-Pacific Reports Show Corporations Can't Be Trusted
Earlier this week, the Center for Public Integrity published an exposé detailing the deceptive research program Georgia-Pacific funded to avoid accountability for
 For twelve years Georgia- Pacific produced both a paste and dry mix joint compound that used asbestos, exposing countless numbers of workers to the cancer causing substance. In 1978, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned all asbestos- containing joint compound, a ban Georgia-Pacific supported at the time. However, asbestos-related diseases take decades to develop and it wasn’t until 2005 that Georgia-Pacific realized they may be held accountable for exposing workers to asbestos, a known carcinogen. At this point they developed a business plan: pay 18 scientists a collective $6 million dollars to produce reports favorable to the company. In total, Georgia-Pacific funded 13 articles that were published in scientific journals. According to the Center for Public Integrity, these reports used science that was questionable at best. For instance, an expert government panel endorsed an animal inhalation study set to last two years. However Georgia-Pacific paid scientists shortened the time frame from two years to five days, a period so brief the long lasting effects of asbestos could not properly be measured. Additionally, the research claimed to have been sponsored by a grant, but documents later proved Georgia-Pacific paid the equivalent of $850,000... |
Thursday, October 31, 2013
DePaolo's Work Comp World: Trucks, WBV and Cancer
The National Cancer Institute (NC!) reports that over 230,000 males in the US will diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013 and that 29,790 deaths will result. David DePaolo, published of WorkCompCentral®, writes today of the potential new wave of workers' compensation claims arising from the association of whole-body vibration syndrome (WBV) experienced by truck drivers and its relationship to prostate cancer. He links source material to support the argument. This post is shared from http://daviddepaolo.blogspot.com . You just never know what the next big risk category is going to be in workers' compensation. I had been persuaded by an argument offered by Charlie Kingdollar, Vice President emerging issues unit for General Re Corp., that nanomaterials would be the next asbestos. OSHA has been particularly concerned with silica in the past couple of years. |
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Target Bans the Box
 Earlier this year Minnesota extended its existing law to cover private employers. Now, the Minneapolis-based Target Corporation, one of the nation’s largest employers, has announced that it will remove questions about criminal history from its job applications throughout the country. The announcement represents an important victory for the grassroots community group TakeAction Minnesota, which had been pressuring the company to change.This comes on the heels of a similar development earlier this month in California, where Gov. Jerry Brown signed a ban-the-box bill that applies to government employers. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gave this movement a lift last year, when it expanded and updated a ruling that barred employers from... |
Stryker Corp. Settles FCPA Case, Pays $13 Million
Stryker Corp. settled a long-running U.S. foreign bribery case, agreeing on Thursday to pay $13.3 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve the allegations — without admitting or denying them.
The Kalamazoo, Mich.-based medical device company first disclosed in 2007 that the SEC and the U.S. Justice Department had made inquiries regarding possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars the use of bribes to foreign officials to get or keep business. An SEC investigation found that Stryker’s subsidiaries in Argentina, Greece, Mexico, Poland and Romania made about $2.2 million in illicit payments, describing them in company books as legitimate expenses such as charitable donations, service contracts, travel expenses and commissions. The company made about $7.5 million in profit as a result of the payments, the SEC said. “Stryker’s misconduct involved hundreds of improper payments over a number of years during which the company’s internal controls were fatally flawed,” said Andrew Calamari, director of the SEC’s New York office, in a statement. Joe Cooper, the director of communications for Stryker, said in an email the company has enhanced its company-wide anti-corruption compliance program, and was advised that the Justice Department closed its investigation. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. The SEC issued an administrative order (pdf) against Stryker requiring the company to pay... |
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Electronic Filing in Workers Compensation: One National System
By Jon Gelman from Jon L Gelman LLC
Costs from development to deployment, to upgrade and usage become compounded by glitches and downtime. Redeveloping the wheel for every software browser upgrade and development merely adds to the cost and loss of time.
Nationally the best system has been the Federal Court Electronic Filing System (EFS) along with the public access system PACER. Handling a universal docket of civil, criminal and bankruptcy actions the system is stellar, and gets better with every new software upgrade
Even though there are many unique local District Courts, and Circuit Court of Appeals Rules, that require adherence, the system integrates functionality that makes it easy and consistent in filing and handling claims.
A universally consistent protocol for handling court related data would allow integration throughout all jurisdictions national. While workers’ compensation has its own particular issues in each jurisdiction, the basic theory and practice is essentially the same.
While some integration of data is universally being proposed under The Smart Act regulations, and other Medicare Secondary Payer Act requirements, the processes are national and universal data integration with an uniform patchwork of claims processes, is tedious and difficult to adoption by local jurisdictions at the present time.
Integration of information is not unusual. The major credit reports companies already have collected national individual data. Likewise, The Index Bureau collects data nationally on injuries and claims for the insurance companies. In fact, Federal agencies like the Social Security Administration already access this data.
The writing is obviously on the wall, and has been since CMS initially promulgated the Patel memorandum July 16, 2001, concerning both collection procedures and future medical allowances.
The tedium of prosecuting a Workers’ Compensation claim, and it’s ultimate adjudication, is an onerous task that seems to be getting much worse because of collection of data requirements and a transient population and multi-jurisdictional employers. Dual jurisdiction claims, collateral liens, pre-existing medical conditions, and the collection of medical data are also problematic. Cottages industries are now emasculating the workers’ compensation premium dollar by offering individual State solutions.
It is is time for the establishment of a national workers’ compensation docket system and case filing program that would integrate all jurisdictions and help the system stay an efficient, summary and remedial system that its crafter envisioned a century ago.
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