The Delaware Supreme Court recently affirmed a ruling which constitutes a potentially very dangerous and confusing opinion. Some might read the decision in ACW Corporation v. Maxwell, 2020 WL 678778 (Del. 2020) as a major departure from both the Delaware workers’ compensation subrogation statute and well-established subrogation law, interpreting it as declaring that lump-sum workers’…
An obscure and unpublished circuit court order from Buckingham County, Virginia, is being circulated by trial lawyers across the Old Dominion State for the proposition that a workers’ comp carrier is not entitled to subrogation for or reimbursement of any amounts it “voluntarily” pays as compensation pursuant to a lump-sum settlement of the workers’ comp…
Nothing in life is free. The common saying is especially true for medical services. Most states provide hospitals with unique statutory ways of ensuring that they are reimbursed for the services they provide—especially in the case of patients without health insurance. In general, public policy dictates that this medical care is important to our overall…
The bane of any subrogation professional’s existence is the dreaded release. It is no coincidence that when Zeus uttered the words, “Release the Kraken!” in the 1981 fantasy adventure film The Clash of the Titans, he chose the word “Release.” The meme itself connotes setting loose utter destruction on one’s enemy—a description which can be…
Congress enacted the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) to provide workers’ compensation to specified employees of private maritime employers. 33 U.S.C. §§ 901-950. The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs administers this Act, just as it does the Federal Employment Compensation Act (FECA). 5 U.S.C.S. §§ 8101-8193. The Defense Base Act (DBA) is an…
When it comes to the apparent evils of workers’ compensation subrogation, the state of Arkansas truly believes that all an injured employee ever wants is a fair advantage. In Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Youngblood, 2020 WL 5542443 (Ark. App. 2020), it was argued that § 11-9-715 does not allow attorneys’ fees to be awarded…
Workers’ compensation subrogation has another growing adversary—one that can slip in during the cover of night, gutting subrogation, and reimbursement rights, even after an insurance company or third-party administrator has spent thousands of dollars in recovery efforts. It is known as an OCIP, CCIP, or CIP, acronyms which spell trouble for workers’ compensation carriers which…
The quid pro quo premise underlying the social compromise known as workers’ compensation is simple: an employee injured at work receives no-fault medical expenses and wage replacement indemnity benefits and, in exchange, the employer is given protection from employee lawsuits and a statutory right to be reimbursed from the tortfeasor who actually caused the work-related…
Kansas Decision Introduces Concept of “Statutory Deficit”. The Kansas Court of Appeals is holding class on why it is important to have subrogation counsel in workers’ compensation subrogation third-party cases – even in states which are favorable to carriers. In the 2020 case of Hawkins v. Southwest Kansas Co-op Service, 2020 WL 1649867 (Kan. App.…
City of Asbury Park v. Star Insurance Company, 2020 WL 3493526 (N.J. 2020). Large deductible workers’ compensation programs and policies with large self-insured retentions (SIR) were first introduced to the American insurance industry in the late 1980s with limited deductible options for medical and death benefits. Over time they have grown to become a key…