Here are the some of the hot topics from the Workers Comp world this week:

Teach Your Data To Fight Opiod Abuse

Workers’ Compensation research, networking communities, and press are overflowing with information about Opioid overuse and how it is negatively impacting claim costs and outcomes. Information about the problem abounds. Opioid abuse is clearly recognized as a serious problem in the industry, clearly evidenced by recent research. Read More…

Rulebook Supplement 2012-13 Available Online

The Texas Workers’ Compensation Rulebook Supplement 2012-03 containing rules adopted by the Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation is available online from the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC). The supplement can be printed from the TDI website at http://www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/rules/supplements.html. See more… Information provided by Downs . Stratford, PC

Security and Risk Management as a Social Science by Emily Holbrook

Here at the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, I sat in on a session regarding human behavior and it’s connection to information security. Tom Scholtz, an analyst with Gartner, started off with a statement many of us know to be true, but often forget.

“The single weakest link in the information security chain still remains the human being,” he said. Read More…

The High Cost of Treating Low Back Pain by Dr. David C. Radford from West Hartford Group, Inc.

According to the American College of Physicians, low back pain is the fifth most common reason for all physician visits in the United States. Approximately one quarter of U.S. adults reported having low-back pain lasting at least 24 hours in the past 3 months, and 7.6% reported at least 1 episode of severe acute low-back pain within a 1-year period. Low-back pain is also very costly: Total incremental direct health care costs attributable to low-back pain in the United States were estimated at $26.3 billion in 1998. It is estimated that the real cost of back pain including the cost of health care and lost production now exceeds $100 billion a year.

To better understand the role of the nation’s chiropractic physicians in reducing the health care cost of low-back pain, WHG has produced a public service video announcement

Watch the video: http://youtu.be/Wfkg3hTSbDI

News From Lexis Nexis

Fifth Circuit Muddies the Water in Hearing Loss Cases

HEARING LOSS UNDER LHWCA

I Can See Clearly Now, Just Can’t Hear So Good, by Stephen Embry, Esq. In the study of the law styled jurisprudence, there are many schools of thought. Some students of the law believe that past cases predict the future and that precedent must prevail. In this philosophy, past words have meaning and are the expression of internal logic that controls and instructs us as to how current and future conflicts must be resolved. Others follow another road, believing that past cases are at best examples of isolated arguments that worked in the past and may be instructive of arguments that may be useful in the future. Read More…

DEFENSE BASE ACT BILL

New Bill Proposes to Exclude Private Carriers from DBA Insurance Market, by John E. Kawczynski, Esq. Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), the Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has introduced the “Defense Base Act Insurance Improvement Act of 2012” (H.R. 5891) which would exclude private insurance carriers from the Defense Base Act insurance market. Instead, a new “Government Defense Base Act self-insurance program” would be created Read More…

THOMAS A. ROBINSON TO SPEAK AT NATIONAL WORKERS’ COMP CONFERENCE

LexisNexis has partnered with the National Workers’ Compensation Conference to create an enhanced legal track for attorneys and other workers’ comp professionals. LexisNexis author Thomas A. Robinson will be speaking on several panels, including theFuture of Exclusive Remedy. View the program agenda. Overall, there are 15 members of the Larson’s National Workers’ Compensation Advisory Board speaking at this event. You don’t want to miss this conference! Take advantage of the special discount for all LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation Law Community members. Community membership is free at our site.

Note: If your company has any developments you’d like to share, please send them to us at: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

WORKERS COMP MANAGEMENT MANUAL: www.WCManual.com

Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.