Florida WC Fund FCBI Acquires Tennessee’s MidSouth Mutual

• Florida self-insurance fund FCBI is acquiring MidSouth Mutual Insurance Co. in Tennessee.
• FCBI was founded as the Florida Citrus Business & Industries Fund.
• It now provides workers’ compensation insurance to other industries, including construction-related employers.
• MidSouth, which will be demutualized, specializes in coverage for contractors and construction employers, home healthcare, and restaurants, offering coverage in 16 states in the Southeast and Midwest.
• Financial details on the transaction were not provided in MidSouth’s announcement.
  READ MORE

Connecticut Hotel Renovation Contractor Accused of Bilking WC Carrier

• Three owners of Florida-based ITO Construction, Inc. were arrested earlier this month by inspectors from Connecticut’s Workers’ Compensation Fraud Control Unit and each charged with one count of noncompliance with insurance requirements and defrauding a workers’ compensation insurance carrier, according to a release from Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.
• Temur Arifov, of Marietta, Georgia, Oleg Arifov of Miami, Florida, and Ion Curmei, of Hallandale Beach, Florida, were arrested on Aug. 16 by officials from the unit that is in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.
• The company was contracted to renovate a hotel building in East Hartford.
• Investigators allege that the three “failed to comply with the requirement to maintain a proper workers’ compensation insurance policy in the state of Connecticut, and misrepresented to the insurance carrier that their employees on the job site were independent contractors,” according to the warrant affidavit.
  READ MORE

WC Probe Reveals Canine-Traumatized Meter Reader Owns Six Dogs

• A former meter reader in Washington state was sentenced to 30 days of electronic home monitoring for fraudulently taking workers’ compensation benefits after faking that she was traumatized by a workplace dog attack.
• An undercover investigator from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries reportedly found she had six dogs at her home.
• Her claim insisted that she could not work because she was experiencing PTSD and dog phobia stemming from an alleged 2007 dog attack. She received more than $162,000 in wage-replacement payments between 2016 and 2019.
  READ MORE

CVS Ruled ‘On Its Own’ in Unresolved Opioid Lawsuits

• CVS Health Corp. is owed no coverage for more than 200 unresolved lawsuits alleging the retail giant’s pharmacies contributed to the nationwide opioid addiction crisis, a Delaware state court judge ruled last week.
• Insurers —  including units of American International Group Inc., Chubb Ltd. and Travelers Cos. — have no obligation to defend against lawsuits brought by medical providers and third-party payors because they do not seek to recover damages for bodily injuries, according to the ruling.
  READ MORE