Although property casualty insurance was not a major focus of the legislative session, several significant insurance-related bills were passed by the Legislature and sent to the Governor for his consideration.

Insurance News Net
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The California Legislature took action on several workers' compensation measures recently, passing bills that, among others, would extend death benefits until the youngest child reaches 19 if the parent died while serving in certain law enforcement services (AB 1696); and require a physician who conducts a utilization review of workers' compensation medical treatment to be licensed in California (AB 933).

Insurance Journal
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California workers’ compensation insurers’ combined ratios climbed during 2009 to the highest level since 2001, while average claims costs continued increasing, according to a quarterly report on insurer experience released Thursday, August 26.

Workforce Management Online
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The California Workers' Compensation Institute study found that between 2000 and 2008, attorneys were involved in nearly 44 percent of all lost time claims and in more than 86 percent of claims involving permanent disabilities. The data also revealed that the level of attorney involvement varies significantly in different regions of the state.

Risk & Insurance Online
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Broker of record letters (BOR) are a standard operating procedure in the California workers’ comp market for moving ownership and commissions of an account from one broker to another. State Compensation Insurance Fund will not honor ownership and commissions in BOR letters for its direct business: A broker can take over servicing an account, but that broker can never own the account or collect a commission.

Workers' Comp Executive
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Up, up, up. That pretty well sums up the latest findings on California workers’ compensation insurers’ premium and loss experience through March 31.

Kelly Johnson, Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
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I've frequently argued that, as the state faces an unfunded pension liability that's as high as $500 billion, legislators are not doing anything about a problem that is depleting public services and imposing additional debt and tax burdens on Californians.

Steven Greenhut, www.calwatchdog.com
Published in The Orange County Register
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Before the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau's call for a 30 percent rate hike on California employers is considered by the insurance commissioner, let's consider the facts about how Gov. Schwarzenegger's landmark reforms fundamentally changed the workers' compensation system, whether methods insurers use to project costs are accurate, and whether insurers have fully utilized the cost-saving tools they've been given.

John Duncan, California Department of Industrial Relations
Published in The Orange County Register
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