Facility costs impacting workers’ compensation costs

• The National Council on Compensation Insurance released a new Insights brief on 2023 Medicare Fee Schedules and Workers’ Compensation.
• The report found that facility costs account for about 40% of countrywide workers’ compensation medical expenditures.
• Physician costs account for about 40% of countrywide workers’ compensation medical expenditures.
• Costs that Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies services represent vary by state, ranging between about 4% and 13% of workers’ compensation medical costs.
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‘No good faith’ in workers’ comp

• There is no “good faith exception” when it comes to hand-delivering a list of employer-approved doctors to an employee with compensable injuries as required by the Workers Compensation Act.
• The decision was held by the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
• The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission agreed with the employer’s argument that it shouldn’t be responsible for the employee’s treatment by the unauthorized doctor because they made a good faith attempt to deliver the list of their approved doctors.
• Court of Appeals Chief Judge Marla Graff Decker disagreed.
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Owner of temp agency pleads guilty to workers’ comp fraud

• A Dorchester, Massachusettes, woman has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to tax and fraud offenses in connection with her operation of a temporary employment agency
• Dam Ngoc Luong, 69, pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false corporate and individual tax returns, three counts of failure to collect and pay over-employee taxes, and one count of mail fraud.
• Luong owned and operated Four Seasons Temp, Inc., an agency providing temporary workers for client businesses.
• When collecting payments from business clients of her temporary employment agency, however, Luong cashed most checks rather than depositing the funds into her business account.
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More support for Washington workers

• Workers in Washington State who are at risk of getting injured on the job may receive more protection from state regulators, due to two worker safety bills that recently passed the Legislature.
• A measure would expand the state’s authority to make new rules for industries with high rates of musculoskeletal disorders, which include sprains, strains, and back injuries.
• The Washington Department of Labor and Industries can adopt rules only for industries that have consistently had a high rate of work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
• The legislation defines a high rate as an industry that has reported workers’ compensation claims for MSDs that were twice the overall state claim rate for these types of injuries over a five-year period.
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