Idaho Workers’ Comp Rates to Dip 0.1% in 2027
- Idaho’s workers’ compensation insurance rates will decrease by an overall average of 0.1% beginning Jan. 1, 2027, according to the Idaho Department of Insurance. The reduction marks the state’s 10th consecutive year of declining rates, and rates have decreased in 11 of the past 12 years.
- The department accepted a rate filing from the National Council on Compensation Insurance based on claims activity, workforce and wage data, and recent rule and legislative changes. Individual rates may vary by job type.
- Department Director Dean L. Cameron said this year’s decrease is smaller than in recent years but reflects continued improvements in claims frequency and projected claims costs across the state.
- Insurers may adopt the council’s rates or submit proposed adjustments to the department for review.
Staffing Agency Owner Accused of Faking Workers’ Comp Coverage
- A federal grand jury in Minnesota indicted Ku Kelvin Vue, owner of temporary staffing agency UniSelect Services Inc., and his son Travis Vue on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and employment tax fraud, the Justice Department said.
- Prosecutors allege the Vues falsely assured clients that UniSelect carried active workers’ compensation insurance for all temporary workers, when it did not, and created false insurance policy certificates to deceive them.
- Ku Kelvin Vue faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud conspiracy count. Travis Vue faces the same penalties plus up to three years for filing a false tax return.
- The indictment says that from the third quarter of 2020 through the second quarter of 2022, neither man collected Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from employees’ wages, paid them to the IRS or filed quarterly returns. Each faces up to five years for each count of willfully failing to collect and pay employment taxes and one year for each count of failing to file a tax return.
Illinois Appellate Court Upholds Denial of Janitor’s Repetitive Trauma Claim
- The Illinois Appellate Court, First District, affirmed the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission’s denial of benefits to a project janitor at Wilbur Wright College who claimed a repetitive trauma back injury. The court ruled in an unpublished opinion that the Commission’s finding that he failed to prove causation was based on the weight of the evidence.
- Bowden said his low back pain began in March 2020, when pandemic-era work involved more furniture lifting and floor stripping. He sought treatment in May 2021 and was taken off work Aug. 20, 2021 and had surgery the following month. His own reports put the start of the pain anywhere from March 2020 to March 2021, and the onset date on his injury forms varied.
- In denying his claim, the Commission cited his supervisor, who testified that Bowden only performed push-mower work during the period in question, worked about just 12 shifts from March to June 2020, and never had to lift more than 30 pounds. She said she slowed the pace of work during the pandemic to avoid layoffs.
- The Commission gave little weight to the causation opinions of two doctors who said his work caused the injury, because neither reviewed his job duties or complete medical records. The court said the Commission is not bound by unrebutted medical testimony and noted the worker did not establish a specific daily repetitive task.