The Best Tidbits of News from the Workers Comp Community

by Ted Tafaro and Frank Zuccarello, published in Risk Management Magazine

 

 

 

 

In 1910, Columbia University Professor of Political Economy, Henry Rogers Seager, published one of the first American books on social insurance. This work, "Social Insurance: A Program of Social Reform" is both a classic and an early exposition of the philosophical movement for social insurance in America. The philosophy expressed by Seager would be the same general viewpoint favored by many of the founders of Social Security in America. Seager's books expresses the thinking of Americans toward this new idea of social insurance which had in origins in Europe at the end of the 19th century. Read More…

 

 

 

 

“Love It or Hate It: Medicare Secondary Payer Enforcement Is Here to Stay, by Jennifer C. Jordan, Esq. Progress is the theme of this year's update to The Complete Guide to Medicare Secondary Payer Compliance, 2012 Edition (available in October). Nothing has improved so much that people don't still cringe at the mention of MSAs, but after 10 years of frustration over CMS acting like a dictatorial monarchy, things have started to give a little. Beginning with CMS voluntarily and preemptively making some efficient and cost effective changes in the handling of low dollar liability settlements, we are now on the brink of getting official federal regulations to govern the handling of future medical allocations. This is where we finally find out if the United States Constitution really works.” Read more.

 

“Worker Awarded Additional Benefits When Retirement Not Voluntary, by Thomas A. Robinson. When a claimant is unable to obtain employment because of his or her physical condition, medical evidence that the claimant could perform such work if it were available generally will not defeat the status of total disability. Sometimes, however, there is an issue as to whether the claimant has withdrawn from the labor force altogether, as by devoting full time to obtaining an education, or by electing to retire. If the decision to retire is connected to the industrial injury, however, the claim will usually not be defeated. For example, an Ohio appellate court recently held that …Read more about this case and other cases involving tort action against carrier, toxic tort & exclusive remedy, and snake bite.”

 

“Barry Bloom 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 Nov. 7-9, 2012. View the program agenda. 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. We are pleased to announce that LexisNexis author Barry Bloom will be speaking on A Blueprint for Successful High-Exposure Claims Closures, part of the claims management track at the conference.”