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      • IS AIG A HOUSE OF CARDS?
        07/30/09
        Is A.I.G. a house of cards?

        A.I.G., a major player in the California workers' comp industry, has been under intense scrutiny after its' corporate parent was rescued by the U.S. taxpayer last fall. The immediate factor leading to the crisis at A.I.G. was the company's involv

      • PELOSI: CARRIERS ARE THE VILLAINS
        07/30/09
        Harry and Louise are back. Mud's starting to fly in Washington and on your local TV channel.

        It makes one wonder what some of the comp insurers are doing under the radar to avert healthcare reform consequences that may be of concern.

        Her poll numbers may be worse than Sara

      • HE'S GOT TO CHOOSE
        07/29/09
        In between blogs on the comp scene, I've been covering the national healthcare reform debate for months.

        A recurring theme has been the perception that Obama has let the debate drift. Perhaps it comes from his natural instinct to be a conciliator, seeking to find common ground among

      • WHAT'S NEW IN UI?
        07/28/09
        What's new at the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board?

        Big delays, that's what. The volume of unemployment claims and the impact of UI judge and staff furloughs is creating a monstrous backlog there.

        Check out Mark Lifsher's piece in today's L.A

      • SIX
        07/27/09
        It there's to be national healthcare reform, it's likely to emerge from a roomful of six senators.

        At a time when much of the healthcare debate coverage seems to be based on smoke and mirrors, the Robert Pear piece in the New York Times is a window on how a bill may emerge:
      • JUST HOW LIKELY IS A STATE WORKER STRIKE?
        07/27/09
        Just how likely is a state worker strike?

        State worker SEIU members are taking a strike vote. There's lots of unhappiness among state workers about their severe wage cuts as a result of the three furlough days. With many experts projecting that the state budget will remain out of bal

      • CBO #2
        07/26/09
        More on the national healthcare debate (a continuation from the last post)....

        More fireworks yesterday in Washington on the healthcare issue.......

        Yesterday the CBO issued another report. That's the Congressional Budget Office, the bipartisan Congressional analyst office

      • A DOG IN THIS HUNT
        07/25/09
        To use one of my old North Carolina sayings, the workers' comp community has a dog in this hunt.

        The hunt for healthcare reform. The eventual shape of any reform could have profound secondary consequences for comp.

        I've had some interesting conversations with various

      • SEIU AND CIGA
        07/24/09
        It was a Sacramento late nighter. The California Senate has voted in favor of the budget compromise and as of early morning Assembly approval looks imminent.

        Here's a good summary of what's in the budget:
        http://www.californiaprogressreport.com

        The Senate vers

      • NO SHORT TERM RELIEF FOR STATE WORKERS IN BUDGET DEAL
        07/20/09
        No short term relief for state workers in the budget deal?

        That's what appears to be shaping up:
        http://www.californiaprogressreport.com

        Stay tuned.

        Julius Young
        www.boxerlaw.com

      • THE COMING STRIKE VOTE
        07/18/09
        More on the possibility of an SEIU strike that could affect personnel at the WCAB boards:
        http://www.californiaprogressreport.com

        From the Sacramento Bee:
        http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifor

        A strike of clerical personnel at the WCAB could bring activity at

      • CARD CHECK
        07/16/09
        A major priority for unions has been the so called "card check".

        That's the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have required employers to immediately recognize a union when a majority of workers sign a card indicating that they want to join a union. This has been touted

      • RATIONING
        07/15/09
        Sometime over the next month we'll see a definitive health reform package emerging from Congress.

        Congressional committees in the House have advanced a plan; various Senate committees are working on a plan. High earning doctors and lawyers may be surtaxed. Or those high earners may

      • BIG MONEY
        07/15/09
        Mid July.

        The Big Five may have a budget deal within 24 hours. We'll see government shrinking. Schwarzenegger's governorship will be further defined as his term begins to sunset.

        So it's interesting to see Meg Whitman up the ante. She's tossed in $15 million

      • STRIKE OR POSTURING?
        07/14/09
        As the budget impasse continues in Sacramento, various interest groups await a deal that may affect their constituency. The workers' comp community is no different.

        TV ad wars on the cuts have begun.

        What leverage do state workers generally (and WCAB employees specifically

      • ZERO
        07/09/09
        If you were Steve Poizner, yesterday was a great day.

        Insurance carriers have recently been announcing large planned workers' comp price increases. Employers Direct filed for a 33.9% rate hike and then announced plans to leave the California market. SCIF, the largest insurer, filed f

      • 20%???
        07/09/09
        A 20% cut?

        That's part of the Governor's budget plan that would affect public workers.
        That includes staff at the WCAB district offices (judges and clerical staff)
        and Division of Workers Compensation personnel.

        Three furlough days per month (which amounts t

      • SULTANS OF SWAT
        07/08/09
        With more sophisticated "sports medicine" and rigorous training regimes, you'd think injuries would be down in professional baseball.

        Wrong.

        Injuries seem to be up. Exactly why is a complicated question. Steroid
        use? Reduced amphetamine use? Manipulation of

      • STIMULATED YET?
        07/07/09
        I'm starting to see them. Are you?

        I'm talking about laid off folks who look rather desperate. Today my client, a bright young twentysomething, tells me he is one of 17 laid off at the non-profit where he was working. The program is radically downsizing in hopes it can survive t

      • DEEP THROAT WOULD HAVE GAGGED
        07/06/09
        Deep Throat would have gagged if he'd lived long enough to see the current shenanigans at The Washington Post.

        Once upon a time The Post was widely respected for its investigative journalism. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman played the intrepid reporters Woodard and Bernstein.

      • THE SHIFT
        07/03/09
        Immigration reform is one of the most contentious issues facing the country. Perhaps that's one reason that it seems to have been put on the
        second-tier agenda by President Obama.

        Better to spend political capital on healthcare reform, climate change legislation, and national s

      • THINK BEFORE YOU SWALLOW
        07/01/09
        There's word today that an advisory panel to the FDA has recommended a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, both of which are extremely popular painkillers.

        Both of these drugs are frequently prescribed for injured workers.

        It's a cautionary note for workers. Even if you doct

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