injured workers News

Addressing the Shortage of Workers’ Compensation Claims Examiners

The workers’ compensation industry faces a daunting challenge: a severe shortage of qualified claims examiners. This crisis threatens to inflate costs, delay crucial benefit decisions, and undermine the quality of claims management. By understanding the root causes and implementing proactive …

Workers’ Comp and Mental Health: Panel Examines Why Worker Wellbeing Matters

American workers are struggling. Employee stress has reached record highs. Symptoms and formal diagnoses of mental illnesses like anxiety, depression and PTSD are rising. Substance abuse disorders are up, too – as are suicide rates in some demographics. Understanding how …

8 Construction Workers Injured as Building Partially Collapses During Concrete Mishap

A building under construction partially collapsed Friday in New Haven, Connecticut, when a concrete pour went awry, injuring eight workers, including two critically, city officials said, adding there were no fatalities. City firefighters and other authorities were called to Lafayette …

Massachusetts Settles With Walmart Over Workers’ Compensation Drug Prices

Retail pharmacy Walmart has agreed to pay $500,000 to Massachusetts after allegedly failing to follow the state’s prescription pricing procedures designed to keep costs down in the workers’ compensation insurance system, Attorney General Maura Healey announced. As a result of …

California Court Rejects Motiva Insurance Claim Stemming From 2017 Refinery Fire

A California state appeals court on Monday denied Motiva Enterprises’ request for insurance coverage for a settlement with workers injured in a 2017 fire at its 607,000-barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas refinery. In a decision on Monday, a panel of the …

Viewpoint: Keeping the Human Element in AI Claims Management

Without a doubt, artificial intelligence (AI) is a valuable driver of innovation in today’s insurance industry. Unfortunately, the predominant attitude toward AI in our culture still hangs on a suspicion that people will lose their livelihoods as their jobs are …

Viewpoint: Empathy, Compassion and Confidence for Better Outcomes

Humanitarianism deals with actively working to improve the happiness and welfare of others. The concepts of humanitarianism and advocacy are actually integral to the workers’ compensation industry, as we’re in the unique position to offer solutions that are truly win-win …

Analysis: Recession, Fear of Job Loss, and Return to Work

With the COVID-19 virus causing economic disruption, The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute would like to share the findings from a study we published in 2010 that sheds light on how a typical recession affects the return to work of injured …

Viewpoint: Automation Makes Time for Scalable Compassion

The modern workers’ compensation system was devised to provide a guarantee of care and medical treatment to injured workers from their employers. Organizations also are expected to offer guidance on the resources available to injured workers as well as how …

Nominees for Nebraska Workers’ Comp Court Picked

Nebraska’s Judicial Nominating Commission for the Workers’ Compensation Court has forwarded the names of three nominees to Gov. Dave Heineman for his consideration. The nominees are Shirley Williams and Anne Winner, both of Lincoln, and Julie Martin, of Omaha. The …