A recent article in the Denver Business Journal pointed out that small business owners, in the midst of a third consecutive year of workers' compensation rate increases and a slow economic recovery, are seeking out effective ways to minimize their risk and control costs. As the author points out, this year's 5.2 percent increase is largely the result of increases in lost wages and medical bills connected to injuries on the job.
High Court sides with company in reimbursement case involving victim of underinsured motorist
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that helps resolve a conflict among federal courts of appeal on the issue of whether principles of equity, or fairness, should trump a health plan's terms under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The case involves a man, an employee of US Airways, who was seriously injured in a 2007 car accident. The airline ended up paying $66,866 for his medical expenses.
Distracted driving a problem not only on roads, but in skies as well
On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board released the findings of an investigation of a 2011 accident involving a medical helicopter. That crash, which occurred near Mosby, Missouri, resulted in the death of a patient being taken from one hospital to another, a flight nurse, a flight paramedic, and the pilot.
Excavator convicted for crash that killed cyclist
Last month, a Boulder County jury convicted Christopher Loven, a dump truck driver of caress driving in connection with the death of a 73-year-old Boulder man who had been riding a bicycle. According to an investigation by the Colorado State Patrol, Loven had been driving a dump truck hauling a trailer with construction equipment when the accident occurred. He apparently turned left to go south when he struck the other man, who was headed east.
