Stephanie Goldberg
Business Insurance
Contact Stephanie
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Stephanie:
Workers comp discount rate set at 4.14% by Texas insurance regulators
Any interest or discount provided in workers compensation claims will be at the rate of 4.14%, the state's Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation said. The 4.14% rate will be in effect from April 1 to June 30, the department said in a statement last week. It's computed using the treasury constant maturity rate for one-year treasury bills issued by the U.S. Government, plus… → Read More
Insurer holds off on expansion efforts amid pushback
In the midst of pushback from industry groups and competitors, Colorado’s state-chartered workers compensation insurer has decided against introducing a bill that would allow the company to provide coverage in other states. Denver-based Pinnacol Assurance, which was established a century ago as the workers comp insurer of last resort for Colorado, proposed legislative language late last year… → Read More
State, federal efforts to curb opioid abuse set to grow
Workers compensation professionals expect that efforts to curb opioid abuse will become more prevalent among state legislatures following passage of a new law in Massachusetts and the release of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s prescribing guideline.In the same week,... → Read More
Seventeen workers comp cheats convicted in varied scams
Seventeen people were convicted last month of charges related to defrauding Ohio's workers compensation system, the state's Bureau of Workers' Compensation said Tuesday. In addition to a chiropractor who pleaded guilty for billing for services not rendered, the bureau's special investigations department found that several employers were operating their businesses without workers comp insurance… → Read More
Do pricier treatments drive workers comp diagnoses?
BOSTON — A course of treatment is sometimes decided before an injured worker is even diagnosed, a speaker said during the Workers Compensation Research Institute’s 2016 Annual Issues and Research Conference in Boston.State differences in the utilization of services to treat joint... → Read More
Swinger couple convicted in shooting-related comp fraud
A California couple convicted of multiple insurance fraud felonies was sentenced to 240 days in jail and ordered to pay more than $38,000 in restitution to the State Compensation Insurance Fund, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said. Claiming he was shot and paralyzed while on duty in San Francisco, John Smiley, a former correctional officer with the California Department of… → Read More
Oklahoma comp commission rules opt-out law unconstitutional
Oklahoma’s Employee Injury Benefit Act, which allows employers to opt out of the state’s workers compensation system if they provide alternative benefits for injured employees, is unconstitutional, Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission has unanimously ruled.The commission on... → Read More
Trend toward closed drug formularies continues
More states are looking to create closed formularies for medications prescribed in workers compensation to change prescribing behaviors and stop opioid addiction before it starts. Following in the footsteps of Tennessee, where a formulary is expected to take effect in August, and California, which has been tasked with creating a formulary by July 2017, Nebraska is the latest state to consider an… → Read More
Opt-out bills put on hold in two states
Once touted as a top workers compensation issue to watch in 2016, opt-out legislation appears to be all but dead following critical media reports, an impending investigation and a sex scandal. Introduced in 2015, the South Carolina Employee Injury Benefit Plan Alternative, or H.B. 4197, and the Tennessee Employee Injury Benefit Alternative, or H.B. 0997 and S.B. 721, would allow → Read More
Noisy workplaces contribute to employee hearing loss
Nearly one-fourth of U.S. workers who were exposed to noise on the job experienced difficulty hearing, according to a study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Occupational hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses in the United States, affecting about 22 million people, NIOSH said in a statement last week. Workers in industry sectors like… → Read More
Noisy workplaces contribute to employee hearing loss
Nearly one-fourth of U.S. workers who were exposed to noise on the job experienced difficulty hearing, according to a study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Occupational hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses in the United States, affecting about 22 million people, NIOSH said in a statement last week. Workers in industry sectors like… → Read More
Bermuda reinsurer's profit up 27.6% in 2015 fourth quarter
Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. reported net income of $107.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, a 27.6% increase over the prior-year period as underwriting profitability improved. Net premiums written for the fourth quarter of 2015 were $289.7 million, an increase of 23.8% over the prior-year quarter, the Pembroke, Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer said Wednesday in an earnings… → Read More
Did texting scandal derail Tennessee workers comp opt-out effort?
Just three weeks into Tennessee's legislative session, a bill that would have allowed private employers to opt out of the state's workers compensation system appears to have fizzled.State Sen. Mark Green and Rep. Jeremy Durham, both Republicans, introduced the Employee Injury Benefit Alternative in ... → Read More
RenaissanceRe results hit by expenses from Platinum buy
RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.’s net income in the fourth quarter of 2015 dropped as it completed its acquisition of fellow Bermuda insurer Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd. in the face of abundant capacity, the reinsurer reported.The Pembroke, Bermuda-based reinsurer’s fourth-quarter... → Read More
Hearing for Tennessee workers comp opt-out bill canceled
A Tennessee House of Representatives subcommittee hearing for a bill that would allow private employers to opt out of the state's workers compensation system has been canceled.H.B. 997 sponsor Rep. Jeremy Durham, a Republican who is currently on an approved leave of absence, on Monday took the bill ... → Read More
NCAA settlement with student-athletes with concussions gets preliminary OK
A federal judge in Chicago on Tuesday granted preliminary approval of a settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association and a group of former student-athletes who suffered concussions playing college sports.Like the original settlement proposed in July 2014, Tuesday’s... → Read More
States seek to expand correctional officers' occupational diseases
At least two states will attempt to create a presumption this year that certain illnesses suffered by correctional officers are occupational diseases covered under workers compensation.A bill introduced in the Virginia legislature states that hypertension, heart disease, hepatitis, meningococcal... → Read More
Workers comp insurers stay profitable amid industry changes
Private workers compensation insurers likely experienced a second straight year of underwriting profitability in 2015, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. Based on preliminary data as of midyear, the Boca Raton, Florida-based rating agency estimated workers comp insurers would have a profitable combined ratio of 96% for all of 2015. That means the comp → Read More
Doctors, others charged in spinal surgery kickback scheme
Five people have been charged in what California's insurance commissioner calls “one of the largest workers compensation insurance fraud cases we have ever seen.” The former chief financial officer of a Long Beach, California, hospital, two orthopedic surgeons, a chiropractor and a health care marketer have been charged with illegally referring more than 4,000 patients for spinal surgeries and… → Read More
Business owner gets prison time for comp fraud
The owner of an excavating company has been sentenced to six months in prison and three years of monitoring for workers compensation fraud, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation said Tuesday.William Newell, owner of Bill Newell Excavating in Fairfield County, Ohio, pleaded guilty last week to a... → Read More