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A snapshot of workers' compensation & Social Security Disability headlines

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National Headlines

This roundup of headlines from across the nation provides a snapshot of what's happening with workers' compensation and Social Security Disability in the United States.

Arizona House Considers Workers' Comp Bills

Source: Insurance Journal

Arizona Lawmakers are considering two workers compensation bills that would change how workers' compensation benefits are calculated and awarded, and allow more communication with the doctors of the injured workers.

Social Security Offers Positions to 144 Administrative Law Judges

Source: The Weekly

ATLANTA, GA - Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that the agency has begun making offers to 144 of the 175 new Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) it will hire this fiscal year.

Due to litigation and budget cuts, the agency has about 10% fewer ALJs than it did a decade ago. During that same time, the number of cases waiting for a hearing decision has more than doubled.

Workers Compensation Laws Too Restrictive

Source: The Hartford Courant

A 50-year-old health care worker injures her back while moving a patient. Surgery is required. But after recovering from the operation, the doctor says there will be a permanent, partial disability - returning to the same type of work is no longer an option. A career is ended, with little likelihood of being able to earn as much as before being hurt. Worse, Connecticut's workers' compensation law says that when initial disability payments run out, even with a permanent disability that prohibits a return to the former job, longer-term wage-replacement benefits are very limited

Wyoming lawmakers to review workers' comp issues

Source: The Associated Press

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming lawmakers plan to undertake a comprehensive review of the benefits paid to workers who get hurt on the job.

Republican State Representative Jack Landon of Sheridan is co-chairman of the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee.

Landon says that the committee is going to look at the benefits that employees receive in the state. He says that the committee wants to make sure that benefits are realistic in today's economy.

California Workers' Compensation System Fails Those Who Die in Its Grasp

Source: California Progress Report

Where else can you kill a person outright, with your gross negligence and greed, and get away scott free without any fear of recrimination or criminal prosecution?

Why in California of course?

It's called the Workers Compensation system, and this kind of aberrant behavior is facilitated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, his insurance buddy cronies and his so-called reforms of 2004. Many have died because of this quest for profits, to appease the needs of the corporate few.

Court Rules For Wal-Mart Employee In Benefits Case

Source: The Morning News

LITTLE ROCK - A Wal-Mart employee, who suffered headaches after accidentally breathing cleaning chemicals through an office ventilation system, met her burden of proof and is entitled to additional medical treatment, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

The decision reversed a ruling by the Arkansas Workers' Compensation denying benefits.

In June 2005, Karen Bohannon was working at a Wal-Mart office building in Bentonville when she and other employees noticed a chemical smell coming from an overhead air-conditioner vent.

Workers' Comp Reform Calls for More Data

Source: Business First of Buffalo

New York State has improved its workers' compensation program but can do even more to improve efficiency, according to a report from Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo.

The recommendations were forwarded to the Gov. Eliot Spitzer's office as called for under the Workers' Compensation Reform Act of March 2007. Officials have said that legislation fundamentally reformed the workers' compensation system and has resulted in an estimated savings for New York businesses of $1 billion this fiscal year.

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