Fraud in workers’ comp industry reaching high levels

• Workers’ comp fraud is a billion-dollar industry and is detrimental to a system designed to protect employees injured on the job.
• The overall cost of workers’ compensation fraud is expected to be more than $34 billion a year, according to a study by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (CAIF).
• These practices can lead to higher compensation payouts and increased medical expenses, placing an undue burden on employers and insurers.
• Employers may intentionally misclassify workers to lower their insurance premiums, like mislabeling employees as independent contractors or manipulating job descriptions to downplay the risks associated with certain roles.
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Workers’ Comp reforms sought for Quad Cities

• The bi-state congressional delegation representing the Quad Cities — Illinois and Iowa — is urging the Department of Labor (DOL) to address challenges employees face when seeking treatment for injuries covered by workers’ compensation.
• Currently, care providers can choose whether to accept federal workers’ compensation cases.
• Many providers in eastern Iowa and western Illinois choose not to accept these patients, citing difficulties in coordinating with and receiving payment from DOL.
• Sen. Chuck Grassley and his colleagues are demanding DOL swiftly improve its processes to encourage provider participation in the workers’ compensation program and help ensure federal employees who sustain injuries on the job can readily access the treatments they need.
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FedEx Worker Killed in Memphis

• A FedEx worker was killed in a serious accident at the company’s World Hub in Memphis, Tenn., officials said.
• Police said when they arrived an employee at the campus was critically injured. He was taken to Regional One Health, but was later declared dead at the hospital.
• While neither police nor FedEx released the name, age or gender of the employee, according to WMC in Memphis, the victim was a woman in her 80s.
• It was the fifth death at the world hub since 2017. Attorney Jeff Rosenblum who represents the families of workers who have lost their lives at the FedEx World Hub said the number is too high.
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Fruit grower fines for accident

• A  fruit grower and processor in Yakima, Washington, has been fined nearly $300,000 by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries after two orchard workers died in tractor rollovers almost exactly a month apart.
• The first fatality was when Borton & Sons employee Gilberto Padilla was driving a tractor on a county road between orchards when the front counterweights used to stabilize the tractor fell off. Padilla drove over the weights, causing the tractor to roll.
• The Roll Over Protection Structure (ROPS) on the tractor was not up at the time and Padilla was not wearing a seatbelt.
• ROPS are metal bars, frames, or crush-proof cabs on farm equipment designed to prevent an operator from being crushed by the tractor in the event of a rollover.
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