Oklahoma’s ruling on workers’ comp case could have wide implications

• An Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals opinion could set a precedent that alters the scope of what’s considered continuing medical maintenance through workers’ compensation.
• A claimant appealed an order of the Workers’ Compensation Court of Existing Claims that denied his request for a spinal cord stimulator.
• The Court of Civil Appeals reversed the decision, which now could be taken up by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
• The claimant was awarded permanent partial disability benefits through the Workers’ Compensation Court of Existing Claims in 2014, but the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals opinion reversed the existing claimPosts decision.
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Possible rate hike in Washington

• The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) is proposing a 4.9 percent increase in the average hourly rate employers and workers will pay for workers’ compensation insurance next year.
• If adopted, the increase would mean employers and workers on average would jointly pay an additional $65 a year for each full-time employee within a business.
• The proposed increase is below what L&I expects to pay for 2024 claims, so the agency will augment the premiums with funds from the workers’ compensation contingency reserve.
• In part, the rate increase is needed because Washington has had higher-than-normal increases in the state’s average wage in recent years.
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Minnesota construction worker pleads guilty to fraud

• A construction boss in Minnesota pleaded guilty to charges of workers’ compensation insurance fraud stemming from an incident when a nail struck an employee’s eye.
• Nelson Israel Lopez Giron, the owner of wood-framing firm Giron Construction, entered his plea to criminal charges following a Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau investigation.
• Lopez Giron admitted to defrauding his workers’ compensation insurance company and submitting false information in an effort to distance himself from the worker who was hurt on one of his construction sites while trying to hammer a nail into wood.
• Under the plea, Lopez Giron has requested to serve 30 days in prison and three years of probation while also agreeing to forgo all future state and federal construction contracts.
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Three bills impact workers’ comp in Maryland

• The Maryland General Assembly passed three bills in the past legislative session that will affect workers’ comp in the state.
• B0071/HB0800 specifies that 25% of the net recovery by a claimant on a claim for workers’ compensation will be subject to execution on a judgment for a child support arrearage.
• HB0902/SB0839 establishes that a hernia caused as a result of repetitive trauma may be considered an occupational disease and be compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
• SB0377/HB0590 alters the circumstances under which an employer/insurer would be entitled to an offset of the liability of benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
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