Medical payments per claim in Minnesota lower

• During the first two years of the pandemic, medical payments per claim in Minnesota decreased by 4% in 2020-2021, followed by a slight drop of 2 percent in 2021/2022, according to a new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
• Pandemic-related factors likely impacted the decreases in the percentages of claims with most hospital outpatient and nonhospital services and the number of services per claim in 2020 and 2021.
• Before 2020, payment trends for ambulatory surgery center facilities and hospital outpatient and inpatient services likely reflected the impact of several fee schedule changes.
• Medical payments per claim in Minnesota were lower than in many study states, with most key components lower or typical.
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Judge allows workers’ comp suit to go forward with teacher who was shot

• A Virginia judge allows a $40 million lawsuit by a teacher shot by a student to proceed, which workers’ compensation rules
• A teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in Virginia can press forward with her $40 million against a school system over claims of negligence by school administrators.
• Abby Zwerner could get much more than just workers’ comp for the serious injuries caused by January’s classroom shooting.
• Lawyers for Newport News Public Schools had tried to block the lawsuit, arguing that Zwerner was eligible only for workers’ comp.
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Grieving family trying to change Alaska workers’ comp law

• A family is trying to change Alaska’s workers’ comp laws in honor of their daughter who was killed on the job.
• Even though many Alaskans who die or get injured at work are performing dangerous jobs, any change to existing workers’ comp law could help people who have a claim in the future.
• That’s what the Parks family is trying to do now for their daughter Molly.
• If the family succeeds in getting workers’ comp law changed, they hope it’ll be called “Molly’s Law.”
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Firefighters welcome new workers’ comp law

• Saskatchewan will add six cancers to the list of those deemed occupational among the profession, establishing the province as the nation’s leader in presumptive cancer coverage when the change occurs.
• The added coverage will help ensure fair compensation to firefighters who contract those cancers and to their families, according to Saskatchewan Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics Association (SPFFPA) President Lloyd Zwack.
• Six cancers – pancreatic, thyroid, penile, laryngeal cancer, mesothelioma and soft tissue sarcoma – will be added to the list of those presumed occupational among firefighters with a specified number of years on the job, which expedites the workers’ compensation claim process.
• Those new cancers bring the number of those deemed occupational among Saskatchewan professional firefighters to 22, a new national benchmark.
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