It is entitled “An Act to clarify reimbursement of workers’ compensation insurers to prevent double recovery by injured workers in third-party cases”, but, as with most deceptive titles to pieces of legislation, it is more of a license for trial lawyers to destroy a time-honored right of reimbursement promised to small businesses across Massachusetts. In…
Juris Publishing, Inc. has released the latest and most comprehensive edition of Workers’ Compensation Subrogation In All 50 States, the firm’s unique treatise on the subject. The book is carried on the shelves of every law school in the country and is considered the authoritative resource on the subject. There are very few areas in…
Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich sure doesn’t act like a Republican. When a 2012 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court made it relatively simple for states to reject Obamacare’s costly expansion of Medicare on the backs of state taxpayers, many governors took advantage of the opportunity. Not Governor Kasich. Despite emphasizing opposition to Obamacare in…
Oklahoma has seen its share of changes in its workers’ compensation laws of recent. On May 6, 2013, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed S.B. 1062 into law, creating a new Title 85A of the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Act to operate in parallel with existing Title 85, and once again reform that state’s workers’ compensation laws…
Future Credit Reduced By Health Insurance Payments On April 1, 2015, the South Dakota Supreme Court declared for the first time that medical expenses paid by health insurance plans, and not by an injured employee personally, can be applied to the reduce the workers’ compensation carrier’s statutory future offset as established in S.D.C.L. § 62-4-38.…
On April 20, 2015, the Montana Legislature passed Senate Bill 288, making it easier for Montana’s employers to subrogate workers’ compensation claims. Trial lawyers cried foul, and on April 29, 2015, Democrat Governor Steve Bullock vetoed the business-friendly Bill. In an effort to explain to Montana residents that their governor does not understand the vital…
Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C.’s (“MWL”) team of seasoned litigators continue to assist employers to defy arduous hurdles presented by third-party contribution suits. When faced with a personal injury claim from an injured employee, defendant-tortfeasors can sometimes go on the offensive. Depending on the circumstances, defendants often use third-party complaints to drag employers and their…
Montana businesses are learning the hard way the cost of electing a Democrat governor. The Montana legislature represents a solid, common sense, Republican majority which understands the vital role that a business-friendly environment plays in stimulating the real job creators – small businesses. On April 20, 2015, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 288, which made…
The ongoing saga in Pennsylvania – colloquially referred to as the “reluctant plaintiff problem” – has perhaps come to an end. Section 671 of Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Subrogation Statute couldn’t be clearer. It unambiguously states, “…the employer shall be subrogated to the right of the employee.” Section 319 of the Act has appropriately been described…
Plan For The Best, Expect The Worst, And Prepare To Be Surprised Thomas Reid once said, “There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words.” Nowhere is this truism as important than in the settlement of third-party lawsuits involving workers’ compensation carriers’ subrogation liens and future credits. For lack…