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…

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court split on whether a physician should be limited to assigning an impairment rating only for accepted work-related injuries, but it doesn't change a decision allowing the doctor to consider…

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 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 rejected a worker’s constitutional challenges to the state's new impairment rating evaluation process. Douglas Bellamy worked for the City of Philadelphia. He suffered injuries in a…

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 Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected yet another constitutional challenge to the state's new impairment rating evaluation procedure. Case: Perilli v. City of Philadelphia (WCAB), No. 1110 C.D. 2023, 08/01/2024, unpublished. Facts:…

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 Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected another constitutional challenge to the state's new impairment rating evaluation procedure and scolded the attorney responsible for bringing the repetitive claims. Case: Bernard v. City…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected another repetitive challenge to the constitutionality of the state's new impairment rating evaluation process. Case: Miles v. City of Philadelphia (WCAB), No. 1111 C.D. 2023,…

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 rejected yet another constitutional challenge to the state's new impairment rating evaluation process. Pamela Barrett Walker worked for the City of Philadelphia. She suffered injuries at…

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 continues to reject repetitive challenges to the constitutionality of the state's new impairment rating evaluation process. Case: Kittles v. City of Philadelphia (WCAB), No. 1058 C.D.

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 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 Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a bill that would make direct deposit the default method for paying workers' compensation benefits, and the Senate signed off on a measure that would make…

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 upheld a determination that the Second Injury Fund was not liable for a worker’s permanent total disability benefits for a claimed psychological injury. Norma Huffman worked…

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 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.,…

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…

Goldberg Segalla announced the addition of attorneys to its workers’ compensation defense practice groups in San Francisco and Orange County, California. Lynet’ D. Shigg  joined the firm’s San Francisco practice group,…

The California Division of Workers’ Compensation on Friday announced additional changes to the hospital outpatient department and ambulatory surgical centers section of the Official Medical Fee Schedule to align with…

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’…

The owner of a vocational school in Los Angeles was charged with fraud for billing carriers for services not provided and allegedly paying illegal kickbacks to vocational counselors for referrals,…

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…