Nevada Moves to Correct Lien 'Chaos'

Nevada’s Senate has passed a bill to limit the amounts workers’ compensation carriers can recover and provides a system to decide the lien amount.
That follows a ruling last fall where the Nevada Supreme Court overturned 38 years of precedent concerning how workers’ compensation liens are resolved in personal injury claims, the so-called Breen formula.
Following that ruling, local workers comp attorneys warned the decision “create comp lien chaos.”
“For practical purposes, this change has created a great deal of short-term uncertainty in personal injury litigation,” Wilson Elser lawyer Michael Lowry wrote following the ruling.
Senate Bill 258, introduced on February 27, targets compensation formulas in workers’ comp cases. It aims to limit reductions to employee compensation when they receive other payments that represent economic damages—such as medical bills or lost wages. The bill also defines what qualifies as “economic damages,” offering more clarity in these disputes.
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Ohio’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation said the open enrollment period for employers to select a managed care organization to oversee medical management for workers injured on the job is now open and continues through May 23.
BWC offers open enrollment every two years for employers to select from a network of MCOs that manage claim filings and medical care that injured workers need to recover and return to work.
The state offers a report card as an objective source of information that summarizes each MCO’s performance in several categories, including quality of medical management, return-to-work strategies, and timeliness of service.
Any changes made by employers in their managed care organization will be effective on June 30.
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Texas Mutual Insurance will distribute $8 million in grants to nonprofits this year, beginning with “initiatives that support generational impact.”
The grant amounts will vary by market and organization size, with funding between $25,000 and $100,000.
The state’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance said the grants for programs supporting generational learning, workforce development and safety training will be considered in two cycles, with the first now open through May 26.
The second grant cycle, from Aug. 21-Sept. 29, will focus on workforce development and safety training.
Those second-cycle grants will include programs to train the current and future skilled workforce in safe work practices, especially in industries or occupations at higher risk for workplace accidents.
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