Law passed in 2014 still cutting costs
- A Delaware workers’ compensation law passed in 2014 has continued to lower workers’ compensation medical claim costs, according to the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
- WCRI found the average medical payment per claim decreased by about 33 percent between 2014 and 2017 in Delaware.
- Total costs per claim continued to decrease after 2017 following a series of medical fee schedule reductions.
- Medical payments per claim decreased in 2020 due to utilization, which may reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pressure building to ease workers comp costs
- California employers spend more than $15 billion on insurance to cover workers’ compensation claims, and large employers set aside millions of dollars more self-insurance funds.
- There has been growing pressure to find ways to decrease the escalating costs.
- However, California Gov. Gavin Newsom reportedly wants to wait on any action until the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been fully ascertained.
- However, police, fire personnel, and other workers can claim benefits for illnesses and injuries without having to prove that they are job-related, which boosts costs.
Sanitation worker suffers ghastly injury
- A New York City Sanitation Department worker was injured after a garbage truck rolled over his leg.
- A neighbor with military experience put a tourniquet on the man’s leg to stop the bleeding before medical personnel arrived.
- The injured person was taken to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze.
- The condition of the patient was not immediately available.
Worker injured in fall gets $16M
- Houston District Court Judge Cory Sepolio entered a $16 million final judgment in a lawsuit on behalf of Garett Wilder, an IBEW Local 66 member, and former tower climber.
- Wilder suffered life-altering injuries after falling 40 feet from a CenterPoint Energy electrical pole.
- In August, a Harris County jury found CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, joint and severally liable, for injuries that the Baytown resident sustained.
- The jury deliberated four hours before returning its verdict in the 269th Judicial District, Harris County Civil Court.