Showing posts with label legislative news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legislative news. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Oklahoma Legislative Changes, 2010
Our staff attorney, Tish Sommer, has prepared a summary of the 2010 legislative changes to the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Act. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Texas Jury Awards Worker $70M
That's right, worker awarded $70M in Texas case. That's M as in million. Read the account of this collosal verdict in the Journal-Record. It includes $20M for claimant's attorney fees. That's M as in million.
This monster verdict would not have been possible without the Texas workers' compensation reform that allowed employers to opt-out. Surely this will lead to alot of finger pointing and calls for more reform or a return to the old system. And the beat goes on. . . .
This monster verdict would not have been possible without the Texas workers' compensation reform that allowed employers to opt-out. Surely this will lead to alot of finger pointing and calls for more reform or a return to the old system. And the beat goes on. . . .
Monday, December 7, 2009
Comment on CompSource Privatization
Interesting comment from an anonymous source (because of the Blogger protocols) has been posted on CompSource Privatization. This needs to be said:
What would probably help more than anything is to require in state handling of all WC claims. Alot of adjusters located in other states handle multiple states therefore they have different ideas on what they can do or not do and tend not to be as efficient. They can sometimes confuse one state with the other. From experience, it is difficult to handle more than one state therefore it affected the efficiency of the handling of my claims. If you don't know, you most of the time will put it off and work on something that you do know. It would create a competitive market for adjusters here in the state pushing for more experienced adjusters. It would also create more jobs and businesses.
Thanks for the feedback. I agree totally. If CompSource is privatized, where will the jobs go? Why isn't there an outcry from the economic development community about jobs and the instant premium increase predicted by NCCI? Texas wins with no chips in the game.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
CompSource Privatization
The Task Force on the Privatization of CompSource Oklahoma has published its final report. It is 303 pages long, so I just printed the first 42 pages of recommendations and comments from its members. Interesting reading to say the least.
As always I have my opinions, but I won't express them this time. . . . .okay, how about just one. . . ."oh, that we could all be as professional, responsive and cost-effective as CompSource."
As always I have my opinions, but I won't express them this time. . . . .okay, how about just one. . . ."oh, that we could all be as professional, responsive and cost-effective as CompSource."
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Legislative News
Last week the legislature delivered three bills to Governor Henry dealing with substantive workers' compensation issues.
Senate Bill 901 requires the state’s average weekly wage, used to establish maximum benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, to be determined annually instead of every three years. The measure becomes effective November 1, 2009, and it amends 85 O.S., §22(6).
This bill is a reaction to the 18% jump in compensation rates from 2005 to 2008. Injured workers' will be paid at a rate that more closely reflects the state average weekly wage. On the employer side the unintended consequence will be higher premiums since rates will rise faster. In the last forty years the state average weekly wage has only declined slightly in two years.
Senate Bill 1234 modifies the effect of execution of an affidavit of exempt status to include a rebuttable presumption that an individual or company possessing the affidavit is in compliance and therefore not responsible for workers’ compensation claims made by the executor of the affidavit. Requires the affidavit to be notarized. The measure becomes effective November 1, 2009; and it amends 36 O.S., §924.4.
I'm not sure why we need this law, but now we've got it. Employers and insurance carriers, please remember that the presumption is rebuttable. That means the Court will still apply the Page v. Hardy factors when determining whether the injured worker is an employee.
HB 1600 on soft tissue injuries was vetoed by Governor Henry. The good part of this bill tried to define "surgery" as a procedure that would not include epidural steroid injections. An unpublished case from the COCA ruled that ESI is surgical and therefore the temporary compensation cap did not apply. As a practical matter most of the judges do not follow this ruling.
The rest of the bill was puzzling at best. We would be better served if legislative authors clearly stated their intentions. The bill appeared to cap TTD at 24 weeks even for surgical cases, but you could persuasively argue that it does not extend the cap. Use of ambiguous language leads to hair splitting that frustrates the stakeholders and raises costs as a result of increased litigation and delay. More on this later.
Senate Bill 901 requires the state’s average weekly wage, used to establish maximum benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, to be determined annually instead of every three years. The measure becomes effective November 1, 2009, and it amends 85 O.S., §22(6).
This bill is a reaction to the 18% jump in compensation rates from 2005 to 2008. Injured workers' will be paid at a rate that more closely reflects the state average weekly wage. On the employer side the unintended consequence will be higher premiums since rates will rise faster. In the last forty years the state average weekly wage has only declined slightly in two years.
Senate Bill 1234 modifies the effect of execution of an affidavit of exempt status to include a rebuttable presumption that an individual or company possessing the affidavit is in compliance and therefore not responsible for workers’ compensation claims made by the executor of the affidavit. Requires the affidavit to be notarized. The measure becomes effective November 1, 2009; and it amends 36 O.S., §924.4.
I'm not sure why we need this law, but now we've got it. Employers and insurance carriers, please remember that the presumption is rebuttable. That means the Court will still apply the Page v. Hardy factors when determining whether the injured worker is an employee.
HB 1600 on soft tissue injuries was vetoed by Governor Henry. The good part of this bill tried to define "surgery" as a procedure that would not include epidural steroid injections. An unpublished case from the COCA ruled that ESI is surgical and therefore the temporary compensation cap did not apply. As a practical matter most of the judges do not follow this ruling.
The rest of the bill was puzzling at best. We would be better served if legislative authors clearly stated their intentions. The bill appeared to cap TTD at 24 weeks even for surgical cases, but you could persuasively argue that it does not extend the cap. Use of ambiguous language leads to hair splitting that frustrates the stakeholders and raises costs as a result of increased litigation and delay. More on this later.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Arkansas Style Reforms on Hold?
Just posted at the Tulsa World, "workers comp bill has slim chance of committee hearing." This refers to the bill authored by Rep. Mark McCullough to make wholesale changes to the Oklahoma workers' compensation system.
According to Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, chairman of the House Economic Development Committee, where House Bill 2166 has been assigned, "We are certainly looking at making changes to the work comp system, but not a wholesale change this year. No final decision has been made, but it is unlikely."
According to Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, chairman of the House Economic Development Committee, where House Bill 2166 has been assigned, "We are certainly looking at making changes to the work comp system, but not a wholesale change this year. No final decision has been made, but it is unlikely."
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