Panel Seeks Info on Hearing Loss Claims

U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chairman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) are asking for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review what’s behind the increase in hearing loss among American longshoremen, how compensation claims are awarded, and how to amend federal law to more effectively respond to hearing loss claims.
In a letter to Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro, the representatives raised questions about benefits under the Federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA).
“The LHWCA has not been meaningfully updated since 1984, and it differs from other workers’ compensation programs with respect to hearing loss claims. Under current law, employers are generally responsible for hearing loss sustained by their employees due to work-related noise exposure, even if the hearing loss was worsened by pre-existing conditions, prior employment, or the natural aging process.”
They are asking for details on the incidence of fraud in LHWCA claims and how the agency ensures that claims are related to workplace injury.
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Nevada has become the 13th U.S. state to adopt the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) Drug Formulary to support evidence-based care in its workers’ compensation system.
The state’s Department of Business & Industry said it was adopting the formulary effective Sept. 9, 2025, to allow time for training and phased implementation ahead of the full implementation date on July 1, 2027.
The move to the formulary promotes consistency among physicians, enhances patient outcomes, and helps insurers reduce costs by encouraging the use of effective, lower-cost medications, the agency said.
A webinar on the new formulary process is scheduled for Nov. 5, via online registration here.
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A Georgia man has been arrested for at least the second time in four years, charged with posing as an insurance agent and selling fake workers’ compensation policies.
One fraudulent certificate allegedly created by Fernando Jose Cuellar Membreno ended up costing a general contractor more than $700,000 in additional premiums, the Georgia Board of Workers’ Compensation said.
The board’s Enforcement Division had received complaints that Membreno had represented himself as a licensed insurance agent, would accept premium payments from contractors, subcontractors and others, then provide falsified certificates of insurance.
Membreno was charged in 2021, 2020 and 2019 on similar insurance fraud schemes.
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