Senators Portman and Nelson Introduce WCMSA Reform Legislation S 3079
Senators Portman and Nelson Introduce WCMSA Reform Legislation S 3079 On June 18, 2018 Senators Portman (R-OH) and Nelson (D-FL) introduced legislation (S 3079) to provide specific statutory guidance to CMS in its review of Workers’ Compensation Set Aside determinations. The bill is the product of discussions with representatives of all the primary stakeholders in the workers’ compensation system, the Centers for [...]
Longshore Final Rule Defining Minimum and Maximum Compensation Filed
On April 19, 2018 the US Department of Labor published the Final rule addressing the determination of minimum and maximum compensation under the Longshore Act. See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-04-19/pdf/2018-08133.pdf The rule finalizes the Department’s interpretation after receiving comments, including comments from UWC. The USDOL has chosen not to change its interpretation from 2016 in deference to case law. However, in recognition of [...]
NAMSAP: CMS’s MSA Policy Institutionalizes Opioid Abuse
In a press release the National Alliance of Medicare Set-aside Professionals (NAMSAP) claimed that the policies of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) "Institutionalized Opioid Abuse". "The Medicare Set-Aside program of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “encourages, intensifies and effectively orders long-term opioid use and abuse by Medicare beneficiaries. While the rest of the Federal government [...]
UWC Asks Congress to Follow Workers’ Comp Opioid Reforms
In a letter to the Committee on Ways and Means of the US House of Representatives, UWC requested that the committee take note of state efforts to address opioid overuse among injured employees through a number of initiatives such as evidence-based treatment guidelines, closed formularies and system monitoring. UWC further recommended that the committee consider measures to assure consistency in [...]
President Trump’s FY 2019 Budget Summary: Part II
President Trump's FY 2019 Budget would eliminate workers' compensation reverse offsets and reform the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) Eliminate Workers’ Compensation Reverse Offset The budget proposes the elimination of the Workers’ Compensation Reverse Offset against Social Security, estimating a savings over the ten years ending FY 2028 of $207 million. This proposal has been an ongoing feature of prior [...]
UWC submits Comments on US DOL Survey of Alternative Financing
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the collection of data to support an analysis of alternative strategies for UI deficit financing. The issue of UI trust fund solvency is one that UWC and the National Foundation for Unemployment Compensation and Workers’ Compensation has tracked closely over the decades and through multiple recessionary periods. State UI Trust Fund Solvency [...]