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H.R. 1063 Medicare SMART Act Passes House of Representatives - Sent to the Senate

Business Insurance recently reported that a bill designed to ease problems that we as members of the workers' compensation community frequently face with Medicare Secondary Payer Act compliance has passed the House of Representatives as part of a larger legislative package.

Provisions of H.R. 1063, the Strengthening Medicare and Repaying Taxpayers Act, were passed Wednesday as part of H.R. 1845. The legislation passed 401-3, according to the American Insurance Association. It has been sent to the Senate for further consideration.

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Top Ten Benefits of Settling Your Workers’ Compensation Case

1. Workers’ compensation settlements are tax-free. Settlement can provide you with a fresh start and allow you to regain control of your life.
2. The primary benefit of settlement is that you will receive a lump sum amount of money and you will no longer be dependent upon a weekly check being sent by the workers’ compensation carrier.
3. In some instances involving serious lifetime injuries, you can choose to have your settlement funds spread out over your entire lifetime through the use of annuity. This provides additional security for you and your family.

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Walmart Settles Colorado Class Action Workers' Compensation Lawsuit

The Denver Business Journal reported on Tuesday, November 13, 2012, that U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn, a federal judge in Denver, approved a class-action lawsuit settlement involving 13,521 employees of Walmart Stores who had alleged that improper payments were made to medical facilities that provided treatment to people who had suffered work related injuries. The case arose out of a Colorado Springs Walmart employee’s workers’ compensation claim.

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Reducing Prescription Costs for Narcotics in Workers' Compensation Cases: Will Georgia Follow Ohio's Lead?

A hot topic of discussion in the Georgia workers' compensation community is the ever increasing cost of prescription drugs with a particular focus on the high cost of narcotic pain medication This issue is not unique to Georgia. It is being raised by employers, insurers and self-insurers nationwide. Risk and Business reported last week that the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation has taken steps to control this perceived problem by establishing its first-ever formulary to limit prescriptions to injured workers.

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Governor Deal Appoints New Director to Appellate Division of the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation

The AJC reported on November 3, 2012, that Governor Nathan Deal has appointed Elizabeth A. Gobelin to the State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Judge Gobeil will replace former Republican State Representative Warren Massey, who had been appointed to the job by Governor Sonny Perdue. Judge Massey’s term on the board expired in January. He will continue to serve as an Administrative Law Judge.

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Study Suggests Possible Ethnic Discrimination in Workers' Compensation Settlements

Researchers from the University of Chicago School of Public Health have concluded that white, non-Hispanic construction workers receive larger workers' compensation settlements than their black or Hispanic counterparts despite sustaining equivalent or less serious disabilities.

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Meningitis Outbreak Impacts Middle Georgia Workers' Comp. Patients

More potentially contaminated drugs produced by a Massachusetts company linked to a national fungal meningitis outbreak are being recalled from 10 Middle Georgia health facilities, reports the Macon Telegraph. The paper reported that all drugs produced by New England Compounding Center in Framington, Mass. have been recalled according to an advisory issued on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.

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Psychological Injuries and Workers' Compensation in Georgia

Injured workers in Georgia may recover for psychological/psychiatric injuries as long as they have also suffered some type of physical injury or harm to the body. Psychological/psychiatric injuries alone are not compensable. Mental stress alone is not a compensable injury. The mental disability of the injured worker must be precipitated and/or produced by, or be a proximate result of, a physical injury.

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Shoulder Replacement Surgery in Workers' Compensation Cases

Although knee and hip replacement surgeries are seen fairly often in workers' compensation cases, occasionally an worker may suffer such a significant injury to his or her shoulder that shoulder replacement surgery is necessary. In shoulder replacement surgery, the damaged parts of a the shoulder are removed and replaced with artificial components known as a prosthesis. The surgeon may elect to replace either the head of the humerus bone (ball) or both the ball and the socket (glenoid).

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Susan Sadow elected to Board of Directors position

Susan J. Sadow was recently elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Workers' Compensation Claimants Lawyers (WCCL) section of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA).