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The Illinois Appellate Court ruled a defunct insurer that provided workers compensation insurance in California cannot use emergency funds set aside for claims to cover unpaid administrative costs such as rent, utilities and other bills, the California Department of Insurance announced Tuesday. The court issued its decision in In re Liquidation of Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co. in support of California…

Fireworks season is near and soon loud booms and bright colors will fill the sky. Before you spend your family fortune on fireworks for the summer, here are some things you need to know about using fireworks in Indiana: Indiana fireworks laws Indiana has four main laws regarding consumer use of fireworks: Must be 18 or older to purchase fireworks.…

Prices paid for medical professional services vary significantly across states, ranging from 26 percent below the median in Florida to 158 percent above median in Wisconsin, according to a 35-state study. States with no fee schedules for professional services had higher prices paid compared with states with fee schedules—39 to 168 percent higher than the median of the study states…

Over the past several years, there has been extensive coverage on the staggering destruction of the opioid crisis. Individuals, families and communities across all demographics are impacted by this epidemic. While much of the coverage has rightly been focused on the human cost, the opioid crisis and other forms of substance abuse, also have a tremendous impact on small businesses…

As policymakers and system stakeholders in many states debate rising medical costs, the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) released a new study today that helps monitor changes in prices paid for medical professional services as well as the impact of fee schedule and network changes on price trends. The study, WCRI Medical Price Index for Workers' Compensation, 10th Edition (MPI-WC),…

Section 12 of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act is commonly referred to as an IME (Independent Medical Examination) and it is a key resource available to claims professionals who must make sensitive determinations regarding the current medical condition of an injured worker. In an IME a qualified medical practitioner who has not previously treated the worker, reviews the medical records…

Indiana's workers' compensation board has released new application forms and guidelines for self-insurers, and the agency is urging employers to make sure they complete the form in full. "All of the attachments and additional information requested in item 7 must be provided," the board said in a bulletin. "Incomplete applications cannot be processed and will not be approved." Item 7…

Workers’ compensation rates are falling across the US, a long-running trend that has finally caught up with California, the nation’s largest market, while deepening in others, such as New York. In California, where carriers set their own rates, State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has called for a rate rollback based on a cost benchmark of $1.74 per $100 of payroll…