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 the denial of a railway worker’s claim of injury to his ear and hearing loss. Case: Patrick v. Velocity Rail Solutions Inc. (WCAB), No. 652…

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 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 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…

Goldberg Segalla announced the addition of Angela G. DiSanti to the firm’s workers' compensation defense group in Philadelphia. Angela G. DiSanti DiSanti has more than 10 years of experience counseling and…

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 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…

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 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 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…

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…

Electronic signatures would be allowed for all California workers’ compensation documents, under a recently amended bill. Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, last week amended AB 2337 to strike a provision that…

Kids’ Chance of California awarded $225,115 in scholarships to 42 students for the upcoming academic year. The nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to children of those who were seriously injured or killed…

The California Workers’ Compensation Institute published a report on trends in average benefit payments valued 24 months from the date of injury. CWCI reports average medical payments started declining two years…

The California Assembly voted to send Gov. Gavin Newsom a bill that would create the presumption that heat injuries and illnesses arose out of employment for agricultural workers whose employers…

A California appellate court ruled that the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board lacks jurisdiction to act on a petition for reconsideration more than 60 days after it was filed. Joseph Mayor worked…

The California Legislature passed a bill that would increase salaries for Insurance Department fraud investigators. The Senate on Aug. 26 voted 32-7 to pass AB 2872, which had not been amended…

The California Assembly passed a bill that would require some doctors who perform utilization reviews to be licensed in the state. The Assembly on Thursday voted 54-13 to pass SB 636,…

California lawmakers closed out the 2024 legislative session by passing a bill that would allow electronic signatures on all work comp documents, and a bill requiring that doctors who do utilization review on claims…

A California appellate court ruled that a subcontractor on a construction project was not entitled to pursue payment for its work because it failed to maintain workers’ compensation coverage. Case: American Building Innovation LP…

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board issued an en banc decision Wednesday consolidating five cases to resolve a dispute over how to split fees between an injured worker’s current and former…

The California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation opened registration for its 21st annual Conference, Legislative and Educational Forum. The three-day event will feature four general sessions and 15 breakout discussions about issues…

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health reminds employers of the requirement to protect their workers from unhealthy air as wildfires in the southern part of the state fill…