Data Breach lawsuit can move forward
- A federal appeals court reinstated a putative class action lawsuit filed by Jennifer Clemens, a former ExecuPharm Inc. employee whose personal information was released following a phishing attack.
- Clemens was required to provide sensitive personal and financial information as a condition of her employment.
- A hacking group attacked ExecuPharm’s services through a phishing attack and installed malware to encrypt the data stored on its servers.
- Clemens filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, alleging breaches of contract, fiduciary duty, and confidence.
Tennessee creates Certified Physician Program
- The Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation created a new Certified Physician Program which provides specialized training needed to treat injured workers.
- Medical treatment and that traditional medical training do not always cover the issues physicians encounter when treating a workers’ compensation patient.
- The CPP is a free, online, self-paced, training course designed to teach physicians additional skills to help them successfully treat and evaluate injured workers.
- In exchange for accepting workers’ compensation patients, certified physicians are eligible to receive enhanced fees for initial and follow-up visits and for giving final impairment ratings.
New York waiving transaction fees for small businesses
- The New York State Insurance Fund is waiving credit card transaction fees for eligible small business policyholders that utilize paperless billing.
- The initiative is part of Gov Kathy Hochul’s efforts to provide relief and cost savings to New York’s small businesses as they continue to recover from COVID and to promote environmental sustainability.
- When a policyholder enrolls in paperless billing NYSIF will waive the 2.25% fee that normally applies on credit card premium payments.
- Any policyholder in good financial standing and whose annual workers’ compensation premium is $10,000 or less, or whose annual disability premium is $1,000 or less, will be eligible.
Stonetrust expands services
- Stonetrust Workers’ Compensation Insurance Co. will begin writing workers’ compensation coverage in Iowa and Georgia effective Oct. 1.
- This announcement follows the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company’s recent financial strength rating upgrade to A- Excellent by AM Best.
- “This is a natural progression of our expansion strategy, and these markets were the next logical choices,” Stonetrust CEO and president, Michael Dileo said.
- Stonetrust is a Nebraska-domiciled company providing workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance in 12 states. The firm expanded into Alabama and Kansas in 2021.