A common misperception of today’s topic will be that we are discussing Rhinoplasty. That is not the case. We are in fact discussing Rhinoplaster. Rhinoplasty, according to the Mayo Clinic, is “surgery that changes the shape of the nose. The motivation for rhinoplasty may be to change the appearance of the nose, improve breathing or both.”…
Illinois: When Social Warriors Adopt a Marijuana Platform
As reported on this site this morning, the state of Illinois has fully embraced the world of legalized recreational marijuana. But, if I read Nancy Grover’s report correctly, they aren’t just wrapping their arms around the concept of freely available “Pot for All;” nay, they are using the platform to correct perceived social injustices, cure the ill that…
How Will Florida Fix Its Growing Workers' Comp Coverage Gap Problem?
I don’t know about where you live, but the economy here in Florida is on fire. Nowhere is the growth more evident than in our burgeoning construction industry. New condos, homes and retail locations seem to be going up everywhere. Here in Sarasota’s downtown core alone, over 4,000 apartment and condo units have been built…
Regarding Fraud: Know Thy Enemy as They Know You
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth and final article in a week long series discussing workers’ compensation fraud. The first article in the series may be read here. There is a scene in the movie Patton that highlights the importance of understanding your enemy. General George Patton had assembled his forces in a North African desert,…
Restoring the Death Penalty and Other Reasonable Solutions to Workers' Compensation Fraud
Editor’s Note: This is the third article in a week long series discussing workers’ compensation fraud. The first article in the series may be read here. There is one big problem with workers’ compensation fraud, besides the fact that, you know, well, it’s fraud. That problem is this: Assuming that we actually recognize fraud when it…
Breaking the Enigma Code of Workers' Comp Provider Fraud
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a week long series discussing workers’ compensation fraud. The first article in the series may be read here. In the early years of World War II, brilliant mathematician Alan Turing and a team of top cryptographers toiled in secret trying to break the German war machine’s Enigma code. Enigma…
WCIRB: To Fight Fraud, We Must First Recognize It
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a weeklong series of articles related to workers’ compensation fraud, generated from discussions at a recent conference of the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California. It was the overriding message that came out of a “Speed Networking” session held at the WCIRB Annual Conference in San Francisco last week.…
WCIRB Reports on the Whale in Workers' Comp
If workers’ compensation were an aquarium, most states would be a small to medium sized fish. A couple would be guppies. Some would be dolphins. Illinois would be a shark. And California would be a whale. Representing over 20% of the entire workers’ compensation market, the significance of the state in the overall system is…
Do Your Comp Carrier's Interests Align with Yours?
Monday, we wrote a piece about a man who had experienced a stroke on the job which was misdiagnosed by a company nurse. He applied for workers’ compensation benefits, but they were denied. Instead of appealing, he sued his employer based on the damages from the company nurse’s misdiagnosis of his condition. The point of…
The Liability of a Company Nurse and the Cost of Winning a Workers' Comp Defense; You Can't Hide Behind That Which Was Denied
This is a story of a workers’ comp claim denied, followed by what appears to be a herculean effort to seek protections under the same legal pretense that was previously refused. It is a lesson that we should be careful what you wish for; you just might end up getting what you deserve. It is…