Local governments have setback in high-profile court case
- The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed an attempt by more than 2,100 local governments to collect refunds from the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation.
- The ruling is based on a 2020 decision in which the Court told the city of Cleveland that its attempt to recoup overpayments from the BWC belonged in the Court of Claims.
- The case is the latest to reject refunds of premiums to public employers.
- The BWC agreed to pay $420 million in refunds to private employers in 2014.
Doctor fined $800,000, jailed for fraud
- Robert Clay Smith, an Alexandria, Louisiana, physician, was sentenced to 48 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for wire and health care fraud.
- He was also ordered to pay more than $800,000 to workers’ compensation insurers.
- Smith conspired with a company to dispense pain creams and patches to his workers’ compensation patients, for which he received part of the profits.
- The company acted as the billing agent for Smith, handling the paperwork and submitting the claims to both the U.S. Department of Labor workers’ compensation programs.
Foundry explosion kills worker
- An explosion at I. Schumann & Co., a foundry in Bedford, Ohio, killed one person and caused another dozen injuries.
- Multiple burn victims were taken to a nearby hospital, one person had to be airlifted by a LifeFlight helicopter and another 46-year-old man died.
- The explosion was so powerful, bricks from the building were thrown across the parking lot.
- Investigators are unclear about what caused the explosion.
Lawmakers want workers comp to pay for funerals
- Boston lawmakers have filed a proposal that would increase the amount of reimbursement that companies and insurers would have to pay through workers comp for funeral costs.
- The legislation would require insurers to pay funeral expenses of up to $25,000 or “10 times the average weekly wage, whichever is greater.”
- Those expenses could include funeral and memorial costs, including funeral visitation services, flowers, casket, death notices, and headstones.
- Current law only requires insurers to pay “reasonable expenses” for burial costs, “not exceeding eight times the average weekly wage” in the state.