The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an injured worker was precluded from trying to challenge the validity of his settlement agreements with his employer. Case: May v. Dana Corp., No.

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an injured firefighter was not entitled to reinstatement of his benefits. Case: Marinack v. City of Pittsburgh (WCAB), City of Pittsburgh v. Marinack (WCAB),…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld a determination that a worker was required to pay the full amount of her employer’s lien against her third-party recovery, even though the estimate…

Billing agents can pursue payments for workers' comp prescriptions outside of the fee-review process, under a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision. The high court on Tuesday published a split decision in…

Pennsylvania employers would be allowed to make adverse employment decisions against employees and job applicants who legally use medical cannabis, under recently introduced legislation. Senate Bill 1290, introduced Wednesday by Sen. Patrick…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the modification of an injured worker’s benefits from wage loss to a specific loss based on the partial amputation of a toe. Case: Perkins v.

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that a worker was not entitled to set aside the workers’ compensation settlement she reached with her employer. Case: Clarius v. Rite Aid Corp. (WCAB),…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an employer should have been allowed to set aside its stipulation of facts agreeing to the enlargement of an employee’s claim. Case: VNA of…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld an award of benefits to the widow of a paramedic who died of a heart attack. Case: Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. v. Reeder (WCAB), No.

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the termination of a worker’s benefits for her injuries from a slip-and-fall accident. Case: Tarawallie v. Magee Memorial Hospital for Convalescents (WCAB), No. 717 C.D.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will weigh in on the applicability of the “no-fixed-place-of-work” exception to the “going-and-coming rule” for a tree-trimming supervisor. In February, the Commonwealth Court issued a decision finding that Jorge Martinez…

The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld the dismissal of an insurance carrier’s breach-of-contract claim against a third-party claims administrator and a malpractice action against the former attorney for the carrier. Case: Pyramid…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld a determination that a union painter’s direct employer was liable for his benefits but was entitled to a pension offset — and that the worker had…

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has granted review of disagreement over the proper prescription drug fee schedule for resolving workers’ compensation disputes. In January, the Commonwealth Court held that Red Book values…

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced that it will accept requests for refunds of 2009 work comp security fund assessments through Feb. 24. A provision in the budget bill lawmakers passed this…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the modification of a worker’s status from totally to partially disabled. Case: Hines v. Aria Health (WCAB), No. 708 C.D. 2023, 08/22/2024, unpublished. Facts and procedural…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld an award to an injured worker but sent the case back to the judge to provide a more specific description of the compensable conditions. Case:…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld a finding that a worker sustained a compensable aggravation of his preexisting lumbar spine degenerative disease and lumbar radiculopathy. Case: Chester Water Authority v. Swiggett,…

The Workers Compensation Research Institute is holding a webinar on Oct. 2 to cover key findings from the latest editions of its CompScope Benchmarks and Medical Benchmarks for Pennsylvania, as…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld an employer’s entitlement to terminate its payment of benefits to an injured worker. Case: Carter-Zimmitt v. City of Philadelphia (WCAB), No. 1597 C.D. 2022, 09/10/2024,…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ordered a workers’ compensation judge to reconsider an agreement providing for a 20% contingency fee from a worker’s medical and indemnity benefits. Case: Elder v. Crane…

Pennsylvania Rep. Lindsay Powell introduced legislation that would require that the same eligibility standards apply when awarding death benefits to widows and widowers while also exempting spouses of first responders…

Pennsylvania’s Superior Court upheld a jury’s $15.5 million award to a worker for his electric shock injuries. Case: Feldman v. CP Acquisitions 25 LP, No. 501 EDA 2023, 09/12/2024, published. Facts: The…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld a utilization review determination that a worker’s ongoing treatments were neither reasonable nor necessary. Michael Perry worked for the Mid Atlantic Hose Center LLC. He…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected an employer’s challenges to orders reinstating a worker’s benefits, the expansion of his claim and the imposition of penalties. Case: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. Berardi (WCAB),…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the denial of a worker’s claim for penalties for his employer’s failure to pay for his prescribed medications. Case: Benedict v. Hard Chrome Specialists Inc.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld the dismissal of a medical provider’s claim for damages against an insurance company executive for the carrier’s alleged failure to pay for the treatment of…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania overturned a ruling that an employer had waived its subrogation claim for the benefits it paid to an injured worker in a settlement. Case: American General Life Insurance…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the denial of a municipal employer’s petition to convert an injured worker’s status from temporarily totally disabled to temporarily partially disabled. Lamont Turner worked for…

Pennsylvania lawmakers sent Gov. Josh Shapiro bills that would make direct deposit the default way to pay work comp benefits and make it easier for first responders to receive benefits…

A Missouri appellate court ruled that an employer was entitled to direct a worker’s future medical care even though it had refused to pay for her treatment for more than a…

The Missouri Court of Appeals reinstated a jury’s verdicts in favor of an injured worker on his disability discrimination claim. Scott Caldwell worked for the UniFirst Corp. as a district sales…

The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the denial of a worker’s claim for benefits for a knee injury allegedly caused by his misstep while descending a flight of stairs. Case: Fernandez…

The Missouri Court of Appeals overturned a denial of Second Injury Fund benefits to a long-time aircraft mechanic with a multitude of injuries. James Eckardt spent over 40 years working as…

A Missouri appellate court ruled that a worker could not proceed with a civil suit against a company that qualified as his statutory employer. Case: Montgomery v. Coreslab Structures (Missouri) Inc.,…

Missouri Employers Mutual announced a new brand identity, MEM, that unites the work comp carrier and its subsidiary, Previsor, under a single banner. The rebranding coincides with the carrier’s transition to…

The Idaho Supreme Court ruled that an employer is not required to use only one physician to evaluate a discrete injury, but it has the burden of proving the reasonableness of…

Although the Idaho Industrial Commission erred in several credibility findings, the remainder of its determinations finding that an injured worker was not a reliable witness were supported by substantial and…

The Idaho Department of Insurance on Wednesday announced that it accepted the National Council on Compensation Insurance's rate filing for an average 6.7% reduction in workers’ compensation rates. Dean L. Cameron The…

The California Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would allow county park rangers to receive salary continuation benefits in lieu of temporary disability. Sen. Angelique Ashby The Assembly on Thursday voted…

The California Senate unanimously passed a bill that would allow carriers to continue using debit cards to pay benefits for another two years. The Senate on Monday voted 38-0 to pass…

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Tuesday announced two appointments to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau Governing Committee and the California Insurance Guarantee Association board of governors. C. Bryan Little (www.fels.net) …

California’s 2nd District Court of Appeals published its July decision finding that the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund is required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it…

The California Assembly Appropriations Committee passed bills that would create a presumption that heat injuries are compensable for agricultural workers and would expose employers to penalties for denying injured workers’…

California lawmakers passed a bill that, if approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom, would allow county park rangers to collect full salary-continuation benefits in lieu of temporary disability for up to…

The California Highway Patrol announced that a former officer was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of workers’ compensation fraud. Jordan Lester, 44, filed a work comp claim in July 2021 and was…

California employers could deny an injured worker’s request for time off to get medical treatment for business necessity, under a recently amended bill. Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, on Monday amended…

California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, commonly known as Cal/OSHA, has increased staffing in its Bureau of Investigations Unit to take on more probes into serious workplace injuries across the…

A California appellate court ruled that some claims in a dispute between the founding partners of a factoring company should have been dismissed. In 2010, Ari Resnick and Dr. Ismael Silva Jr.

A bill that would require some doctors performing utilization review to be licensed in the state was brought back to life after spending roughly a year on the California Assembly’s…