CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Virginia's workers compensation system has higher medical costs than many states, but low claim frequency has kept down insurance premiums and average claim costs, according to the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

NEW YORK—A federal judge on Friday approved a $725 million settlement of a securities class action lawsuit that the state of Ohio brought against American International Group Inc.

Batman might be able to protect Gotham City all on his own, but he needed the help of a federal judge to protect the copyright to his famous ride.

DENVER—A plan to privatize Pinnacol Assurance has stalled following questions about the proposal from the insurer's stakeholders, including employers.

HARRISBURG, Pa.—Pennsylvania employers will see a workers compensation rate decrease averaging 5.7% for 2012, the state’s Insurance Department said.

RICHMOND, Va.—The Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to rehear a climate change suit after previously upholding a lower court ruling that Steadfast Insurance Co. has no obligation to indemnify Arlington, Va.-based energy corporation AES Corp.

LAKE CHARLES, La.—A restaurant server who tripped over a box of potatoes is entitled to workers compensation benefits despite a post-injury drug test showing marijuana and Xanax consumption, a Louisiana appeals court ruled.

PEMBROKE, Bermuda—Beleaguered by natural catastrophes and man-made disasters, Validus Holdings Ltd. announced on Friday that its annual net income plummeted 94.7% in 2011, to $21.3 million from $402.6 million in 2010.

NEW YORK (Reuters)—Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was ordered by a federal judge to face a securities class action lawsuit accusing it of defrauding investors about a 2006 offering of securities backed by risky mortgage loans from a now-defunct lender.

TOKYO (Reuters)—Japan will join at least four other nations in a pact to help compensate victims of nuclear accidents in member countries, a newspaper reported on Friday, as it continues to grapple with the aftermath of the world's worst atomic...

Excerpt: "UnitedHealth Group Inc. and its former chief executive William McGuire will pay $925 million to resolve an investor class-action lawsuit accusing the health insurer of improperly backdating stock options, Reuters reports. . . . Given that there was 'significant risk' to the plaintiffs recovering nothing had the case been fully tried, 'the $925.5 million settlement amount is substantial,' U.S. District Court Judge James Rosenbaum wrote in his 26-page order dated August 10, according to Reuters." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

It's a difficult concept to grasp -- that at a time of massive unemployment, good paying jobs remain unfilled.

General Andrew Cuomo began a fraud probe against Prudential (the second largest life insurer in the country) and MetLife (the largest). In a statement, he built on seemingly unanimous outrage: 'It is shocking and plain wrong for these multinational life

A reader writes:

I had a conversation with the HR Director about something happening in my department. She went to my boss with the issue, citing me as the source. This was not an official complaint by me, as we were not in her office but in the lunchroom. However, I considered conversations with HR professionals to be in confidence. Was I in error?
...

m. central time. Interested parties can listen to the conference call via a live audio webcast at www.aon.com. About Aon Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON) is a leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human

andy_griffith_health_law Washington (SmartAboutHealth) - Classic television star Andy Griffith, best known for The Andy Griffith Show, has made his return to TV to support a new health care law. The new health care law has been proposed ...

BCBS Tennessee concludes hard drive theft investigation Examiner.com BCBS members who could be affected by the breach have been offered a year of free credit monitoring. Chattanooga police spokeswoman Jerri Weary told the ...

1 in 4 women suffering 'unreasonable' workplace stress Hr Morning Just over half (56%) of the women polled said their stress level was reasonable, according to the Kenexa Research Institute. But more than one in four (26%) ...

Interview Don’ts: Corporate Socrates – watch more Funny or Die videos

Healthcare Breaches Spin Out Of Control InformationWeek

...

Daily Journal of Commerce

...

NAIC: Commissioners Not Caving to Industry 'Pressure' on Medical Loss Ratios

...

Despite prolonged high unemployment, employers are struggling to find qualified skilled workers? How is this possible? “Everyone has been caught flatfooted,” according to author/human capital expert Edward Gordon... “we only have 20% to 25% of the current workforce that fits into jobs that are in high demand right now.

The immaculate grounds of Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland is home to several famous California millionaires, including Douglas Ghirardelli (1817-1894), James Folger (1835-1889) and Kaiser Permanente founder Henry Kaiser (1882-1967). ...

This past week a member of my husband’s team suffered a devastating loss: his one-year-old daughter died, which sent my husband — his manager — looking into the company’s bereavement policy. It was three days. Three to five days …

Highmark Blue Shield’s recent shifting of its small-group business to its for-profit subsidiary has led to a wave of complaints from employers, and an investigation into each by regulators, according to Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario. Ario: Highmark shift leads to ‘single-largest’ renewal complaint total via IFAwebnews

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) is committed to offering the broadest possible range of products for our members, as well as to maintaining its strong financial position. Thus, on Friday, July 16, 2010, it filed a new ...

Richard L. Santalesa analyzes the recent settlement between Health Net and the Connecticut Attorney General's Office. It didn't take long for an Attorney.

The New York Times: "The Senate broke a stalemate on Tuesday over extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have been out of work for six months or more, voting to override Republican objections that the bill's costs would add to the federal deficit" (Hulse, 7/20)...

Health insurer UnitedHealth Group reported a second quarter profit jump of 31 percent as enrollment in the insurer's plans went up, The Associated Press/The New York Times reports. "The company's total enrollment grew about 1 percent, to 32.5 million compared with last year, with gains in Medicare and Medicaid businesses offsetting commercial health insurance losses...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is facing a class-action lawsuit in Colorado accusing the company "of conspiring to limit medical care for injured employees in a bid to save money," The Wall Street Journal reports. "The lawsuit alleges that Wal-Mart broke state and federal laws by using a subsidiary to control the treatment for employees with workplace injuries...

©2010 Google KXJZ News Report questions Blue Cross surplus Boston Globe “Consumers are really struggling right now, and the Blue Cross health plans are sitting on a lot of money.'' But Tara Murray, a spokeswoman for Blue Cross ... Consumer group: Insurers kept surplus while hiking premiums USA Today Nonprofit health insurers hoard cash MarketWatch Blue Cross reaps surpluses while rates rise: report Reuters UK Drug Store News - TREND - The New Mexico Independent all 200 news articles »

Hilb Family Returns to Its Insurance Broker Roots Insurance News Net - 26 minutes ago A well-known name in the world of insurance brokers has been resurrected with the birth of the Hilb Group. Robert H. Hilb, the former founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Hilb Rogal ...

The St. Louis office of Lockton, the world's largest privately owned independent insurance brokerage, today announced that Robert W. Reiff has agreed to join Lockton as the office's Chief Operating Officer.

23 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this paper is to quantify the benefits of workshifting -- specifically working from home -- has for employers, employees, and the community. Citrix Online coined the term 'workshifting'to describe the growing trend to working from anywhere other than a traditional office through the use of web-based technology. The older and more traditional terms for this are teleworking or even telecommuting." (Telework Research Network)

Kathleen Sebelius, the Obama administration's point person for health-care reform, started her political career as an abortion-rights Democrat in conservative Kansas.

Anyone who has spent much time managing knows this to be a management truism you can’t avoid: you learn more from a bad boss than you do from a good one. I was struck by this again last weekend …

Thanks in part to the recession, for the first time on record there are more seniors than teenagers in the American labor force. What does that mean for the future?

Speakers at the ALI-ABA’s annual conference on insurance and financial services regulation in Chicago offered extensive commentary on changes in enforcement strategies for insurance and securities fraud, in light of ...   Read → Changes in securities, insurance regulation affecting enforcement via IFAwebnews

As the Obama administration begins to enact the new national health care law, the country’s biggest insurers are promoting affordable plans with reduced premiums that require participants to use a ...   Read → Insurers pushing plans that limit choice of doctor via IFAwebnews

Study: EHR Systems Are Top Priority for Healthcare IT

A recently issued interim final regulation provides much anticipated guidance to health plans that qualify for "grandfathered" status under federal health care reform legislation. While the Affordable Care Act requires all health plans to comply with certain provisions of the law, plans that existed as of March 23, 2010 are exempt from some of the new requirements. The new regulation allows plans to make routine cost adjustments to keep pace with inflation, make modest adjustments to existing benefits, voluntarily adopt new consumer protections under the new law, and make change to comply with other state or federal laws. However, plans will lose their grandfathered status if they chose to make significant changes that reduce benefits or increase costs to participants. Specifically, compared to coverage in effect on March 23, 2010, grandfathered plans cannot: Significantly cut or reduce benefits for specific conditions, for example diabetes, cystic fibrosis or HIV/AIDS Raise co-insurance ...

Senate Democrats say that with the senator taking over the seat vacated by the death of Robert Byrd, they should finally have enough votes to pass an extension to unemployment and COBRA benefits. With addition, Senate expected to pass unemployment, COBRA extension via IFAwebnews

MetLife Study Highlights

...

NEW YORK----Willis Group Holdings , the global insurance broker, stepped up its industry education campaign against contingent commissions today by distributing a third-party white paper in this week’s issue of Business Insurance that highlights in greater detail than ever the conflicts of interest created by the controversial payments.

By Marc Effron and Miriam Ort Through our corporate and consulting experience, we have identified four talent-building barriers that organizations create for themselves and then regularly stumble over. These barriers explain why line executives’ exhortations and HR’s actions to …

You can dramatically impact participation in any meeting or presentation. Do You Want A Lot of "Give and Take?" Offer up your idea while your seated and stay seated. Sure, your big idea contains a lot of forethought and preparation....

What are the positive and negative views for employers about implementing medical tourism into their fully insured and self-funded healthcare plans? What incentives are used to encourage patients to travel overseas for care ...

HRH founder ramps up new middle-market brokerage Business Insurance - 3 minutes ago GLEN ALLEN, Va.—A familiar family name re-entered the middle-market insurance brokerage space last week, aiming to become a dominant East Coast player through an aggressive growth-by-acquisition ...

Nearly a third of physicians of responding to a nationwide survey said they would not report other physicians who were "significantly impaired or otherwise incompetent to practice" because of such factors as mental disorders or substance abuse, study says.

The State Of The CEO: Guardedly Optimistic Forbes Also in July the insurance broker Aon ( AOC - news - people ) agreed to buy the human resources firm Hewitt Associates ( HEW - news - people ) in a cash and ...

Aon Corp , the world's largest insurance brokerage, said it will acquire human-resource service company Hewitt Associates Inc for about $4.9 billion in cash and stock to beef up its consulting business.

Excerpt: "The extent of this communication may vary, certainly. At the most basic level, companies can consider a message to all employees that assures them that management is currently working with health and benefits experts to assess the potential implications of the new legislation on benefits offerings . . . ." (Human Resource Executive Online)

Well, it was just a matter of time before ADP scooped up another leading HR service delivery solution.  The announcement of the ADP acquisition of Workscape says, “the acquisition will significantly expand ADP’s presence within the benefits marketplace for large, complex organizations.” Workscape serves a broad client base, including a number of Fortune 250 companies (and quite a [...]

Employers still adding wellness programs

...

The We're-the-Best Syndrome, an American Affliction

...

Leppy111, thanks for the sub and your right the insurance co don't like the single payer idea because we wouldn't need their insurance policies. Our tax dollars would pay for any medical needs we might have. But because medical cost is ...

We recently had an employee resign to follow his spouse to another state; she had obtained an exceptional opportunity essential for her career. Like most of our employees who, except for personal circumstances, would choose to stay in our employ, he asked about telecommuting. Sometimes, it's an option, depending on the employee and the job he does in the company.

...

Read Full Post

Document Dump: Former Marsh Execs' Convictions Upset Over Failure to Defense Evidence Corporate Counsel - 18 minutes ago A New York state judge has tossed the felony convictions of two former Marsh & McLennan executives after finding that the state AG's office failed to turn over to the defense potentially ...

Democrats know that pitching their plan as a means to extend coverage to the uninsured is not enough: They must convince middle-income Americans who already have insurance that they, too, will end up with a better deal under the ...

George Cloutier's recent article in Entrepreneur was seriously silly, but it stimulated some good conversation about what a boss's job is.

So I have to assume that the pain you're inflicting on your health savings account (HSA) customers has escaped your notice. Unfortunately, that represents a severe lack of oversight on your parts. Recently, I blogged about your failure ...

Google makes a deal China, but at what cost? After months of tension, Google announced today that Beijing will renew its license to operate in mainland China. Google had previously refused orders to censor its search results and pulled some of its Chinese operations. Under the agreement, Google can keep offering limited services in China and send users to Google's uncensored Hong Kong-based ...

You might think you can't go wrong with praising an employee for doing a good job. What's the harm in giving credit where it's due, right? Wrong. If praise is given out half-heartedly or with ulterior motives, the results can be disastrous. Read on to see how employee praise can have the opposite effect of what you intended - and how to deliver genuine praise that truly motivates people.

This is a forum for my observations about a variety of human resources topics and to discuss and question current human resources practices. I want to keep the good things about HR and dump the things that stink. ...

I put-up a new post over at HBR this morning, which is the 4th in what will ultimately be 12 Things the Good Bosses Believe. This fourth belief builds on research showing that the best bosses strike the middle ground...

kwgn.com WellPoint Security Breach Put At Risk Information For 470000 Nationwide ... Hartford Courant (blog) The breach only affects those who used the company's Web portal to apply for individual-market health insurance through WellPoint subsidiaries, ... Anthem Blue Cross Data Breach May Affect 230000 Applicants Insurance News Net (press release) 230000 Health Insurance Customers Had Their Personal Info Compromised Softpedia 30000 Coloradans at risk for ID theft after Anthem security breach Fox 31 KDVR.com Insurance Networking News - IT Business Edge (blog) tutte le notizie (7) »

Performance Reviews by the Numbers Wall Street Journal based Taleo , which makes performance-management software. "There will always be some degree of subjectivity, but it becomes much harder to hide behind how ...