It may not be well known, but both Labor Code Section 3600 (a)(10) and Labor Code Section 3208.3 (e)(5) contain provisions that exempt their application to those claims where the date of injury is determined in accordance with Labor Code Section 5412... Read More

Here’s the fourth batch of advanced postings for the February 2012 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cases to read the complete headnotes and summaries. © Copyright 2012 LexisNexis. All rights reserved. ... Read More

It may be an unfortunate reality but narcotics are a common aspect of medical treatment within the workers’ compensation system. As pain is an extremely individual experience, it is difficult if not impossible to assess whether the medications prescribed... Read More

There is a garden industry that has emerged since 1997 in California of companies who have become “WCMSA specialists”, promoting themselves as experts in developing WCMSA proposals that will pass muster with CMS. Most workers’ compensation... Read More

By Jennifer C. Jordan, Esq. In California, there is a unique trend compared to the rest of the nation in that the Medicare Set-Aside process is primarily defense driven with less than full disclosure to the Applicants. While not applicable to all employers... Read More

The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has calculated the 2012 assessments that state law requires workers' compensation insurers to collect from policyholders in order to fund the budget of the state Division of Workers' Compensation... Read More

Workers’ compensation claim frequency among private self-insured employers in California registered a slight decline last year, but only because the incidence of low cost medical-only claims declined according to a new California Workers’... Read More

The mileage rate that workers’ comp claims administrators pay injured workers for travel related to medical treatment or evaluation of their injuries will remain at 55.5¢ per mile for travel on or after January 1, 2012, regardless of the date... Read More

A new California Workers’ Compensation Institute analysis of more than 10 years’ worth of data compiled by the California Office of Self-Insurance Plans (OSIP) shows that for the fifth year in a row, increases in the average loss per claim... Read More

Here’s the first advanced posting for the February 2012 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com subscribers can link to the case to read the complete headnote and summary. The Torrance Company, dba The Holiday Inn City Center, PSI, administered... Read More

Former Kansas City Chiefs football players cannot seek California workers' compensation benefits under the rationale that their cumulative injuries occurred in various cities and states. Numerous injured NFL players have filed workers' compensation... Read More

The Second District Court of Appeals has reversed a W.C.A.B. award of psychiatric injury for an employee with less than 6 months employment and in doing so has provided valuable additional guidance on the criterion for meeting the statutory exception... Read More

The 4th District Court of Appeal has issued a decision on an issue which has been pending in an unresolved fashion since the early 1990s when Labor Code § 3208.3 was amended to provide that injuries arising from lawful good faith personnel actions... Read More

Average amounts paid per claim for treatment, prescriptions and durable medical equipment (DME), medical management and cost containment, and med-legal reports in the California workers' compensation system have grown steadily since 2005, pushing... Read More

Prior to Senate Bill 899, the law was clear as to which party had the burden of proof on the apportionment issue. If defendant could not provide substantial evidence that there was either pre-existing PD or a progressive disease process, apportionment... Read More