The Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWC) announced a new arrangement with the East Baton Rouge District Attorney at the August Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council meeting. Fraud Section Manager Darrick Lee, longtime OWC attorney, is spearheading the effort, which is designed to increase criminal prosecution of workers’ comp fraud cases across the state.
The Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council (WCAC) met today for the first time since May, updating stakeholders on legislative actions in the last Session and the status of the ongoing Medical Treatment Guidelines (MTGs) updates undertaken by the Medical Advisory Council (MAC).
WCRI released a new study: Interstate Variations in Dispensing of Opioids, 5th Edition, which assesses claims data from 27 states, including Louisiana, from October 2011 to March 2018. The study finds that, in all states studied, fewer injured workers received opioids recently as compared with previous years. Injured workers continue to be treated for pain with NSAIDs, which increased modestly, and other interventions.
Gary Davis, Executive Director of the Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA), is now partnering with the Office of Workers’ Compensation to produce the Louisiana’s Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference, previously run by the OWC and the International Workers’ Compensation Foundation. Louisiana Comp Blog spoke to both Davis and OWC Director Sheral Kellar about the change and what attendees can expect from the conference.
In a seventeen-page opinion rendered October 19th, the First Circuit Court of Appeals decided the Barber case, which has been stewing for several years and sought permanent injunctions against a range of Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration (OWCA) procedures.
The Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWC) will host Mediation Awareness Week, October 8-12, 2018, highlighting its court mediation program. During this weeklong event, each OWC court location will provide awareness and information to familiarize the public about the benefits of mediation.
Despite the fact that the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration (OWCA), AFL-CIO, and other concerned parties submitted comments or testified against the motion at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Dedicated Fund Review Subcommittee of Joint Budget on Wednesday, April 4th, 2018, the subcommittee is sticking by its recommendation to reclassify the OWCA statutory dedicated fund as self-generated fees and revenue.
The 2018 LWC Labor Summit in New Orleans March 21-23 is meant to bring a variety of sectors in Louisiana together to discuss issues ranging from workers’ compensation to safety to recruitment. On Wednesday, a panel of experts from tech companies with a Louisiana footprint discussed the “talent pipeline” and how the technology workforce in Louisiana can grow. Two aspects of this growth that the panel addressed repeatedly were recruitment challenges and non-traditional candidates for tech jobs.
The Louisiana Office of Workers’ Compensation hosted its eighth annual Educational Conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Baton Rouge, February 1st and 2nd. Included in the dynamic program was an update on the status of Louisiana’s new medical marijuana program, featuring the state Senator who spearheaded the effort, and the LSU Ag Center doctor overseeing the cultivation of the product.
The Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) recently announced that the Second Injury Board (SIB) assessment rate is increasing from 5.95 percent to 6.75 percent.
