Virginia Told WC Rates Need 12% Cut
- The National Council on Compensation Insurance said in a filing that base rates for Virginia’s voluntary market should decline 12%.
- NCCI’s 122-page filing to Virginia’s State Corporation Commission said base rates for the assigned risk pool should be cut 15.8%.
- If the panel approves the filing, the new base rates would take effect in April 2025.
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Alaska High Court Nixes Buddy Exemption
- Alaska’s Workers Compensation Commission overstepped its authority vis-a-vis a buddy exemption when it determined that a man injured while helping a friend with some construction work was not due WC benefits, the state’s Supreme Court ruled on July 26.
- WCC acted beyond its power when it recognized an “implicit exemption” to WC coverage in instances where “buddies” have employment contracts with a friend.
- “The Commission’s creation of a vague exemption for ‘buddies’ that can only be applied after an injury inserts confusion and uncertainty for both employers and employees. And it exceeds the agencies’ powers,” the court wrote in its July 26 decision in Samuel Amos vs. David E. Tidwell and State of Alaska, Workers’ Compensation Benefits Guaranty Fund.
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Minnesota WC Rehab Service Claim Face More Scrutiny
- Minnesota is set to implement new eligibility rules on vocational rehab claims on Aug. 1.
- According to the state’s Department of Labor and Industry’s Vocational Rehabilitation unit, in matters of disputes regarding discontinuance of compensation, the injured employee can only be referred for rehab after there is an administrative decision on the discontinuance and an objection to that decision filed by the injured employee or employer.
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NYS WCB Announces New Case Indexing Initiative
- New York State’s Workers’ Compensation Board plans to expand the number of claims it indexes beginning on Sept. 26.
- The agency said on Dec. 15, 2023 that it intended to begin indexing every complete case by mid-2024.
- Every case with an Employee Claim (Form C-3) or First Report of Injury (FROI) and a medical report of treatment will be indexed by the agency.
- Following indexing, any denial of the claim must be filed with the WCB within 25 days of the date of indexing or defenses listed in Workers’ Compensation Law Section 25(2)(b) will be barred, it said.
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