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The governing committee of California's workers' compensation rate-making agency on Apr. 16 voted to recommend that the benchmark rate for policies incepting on or after Sept. 1, 2025, should increase an average of 11.2% across all class codes.

Did you know your firm can be held liable under your own workers' comp policy if a subcontractor's employee is injured? Courts have ruled time and again that if a company hires a subcontractor without coverage and an employee gets hurt on the job, the injured worker can seek coverage under the hiring company's policy.

In many cases, an injured worker may even be a third- or fourth-level contractor, but if none of your subcontractors are carrying workers' comp, a claim can hit your own policy.

Tractor rollovers are the leading cause of death on American farms, accounting for roughly 50% of all tractor-related fatalities. Despite decades of awareness and federal safety regulations, millions of tractors in use today still lack modern rollover protective structures (ROPS).

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health estimates that half of the 4.8 million tractors operating on farms today are not equipped with ROPS. For farm owners, the decision to retrofit older equipment isn't just a matter of compliance with OSHA regulations — it's a life-saving investment. Here's why.

As new malware and ransomware that specifically targets mobile devices grows exponentially, if you have not set rules for employees who use their own smartphones for company business, you should do so now.

While implementing a bring your own device (BYOD) program can save your company money by not buying new phones for staff, there are other benefits like increased productivity, greater flexibility and higher employee satisfaction. However, if your staff are not protecting their devices and following rules aimed at thwarting hackers, their smartphones can become backdoor gateways for malicious cyberattacks.

Manufacturing and warehouse environments are often a busy and hectic, with high potential for injuries or accidents to occur.

Good housekeeping habits can help reduce these hazards. Housekeeping is also an essential part of any effective safety program and a safe workplace can reduce the risk of injuries, which not only put employees in danger but also can affect your workers' comp premiums as well as force you to incur other costs.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has finalized a rule that limits Medicare Advantage plans' ability to reopen and modify an earlier inpatient hospital prior approval decision.

The new provision addresses a growing issue of some MA insurers withdrawing approval for inpatient services after the services have been rendered, leading to distressful situations for affected beneficiaries.

The new rule is likely just the first stab at changing the rules on prior authorization in light of CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz's earlier comments about limiting their use.

Some Medicare Supplement enrollees will be confused when they log into their Medicare.gov account and see what appears to be a monthly termination date, according to a guest column by a Medicare agent in a local Indiana newspaper.

Fortunately, the monthly termination date displayed on Medicare.gov for Medigap policies is a technical quirk of the website's system, not a true termination of your coverage. If you've ever been confused by this, you can get the details here.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced it will not cover anti-obesity drugs like GLP-1s strictly for weight loss.

The announcement came after the Biden administration proposed a new regulation that would upend a long-standing Medicare rule which bars Medicare Part D plans from covering these drugs when there is no underlying condition. Why was the proposed rule pulled?

When most people think of long-term care benefits, they think of adult day care centers, nursing homes and hospice facilities. But if you ask most people whether they'd rather go to a nursing home or receive needed care and support in their own homes, the vast majority would say they want to stay home.

Fortunately, many long-term care insurance carriers are offering substantial home care benefits as part of their policies. Here are the considerations.

One of the hard facts of life insurance is that not everyone who wants it will qualify.

Since life insurance companies want to issue you a policy — but only at a premium that makes sense, chances are good that you can still get a good, solid life insurance policy at a reasonable, affordable premium even if you have a few black marks in your medical history.

But most insurers go beyond your health when vetting you. Here's what they look at:

When OSHA shows up, it's not the time to figure things out on the fly. Whether you're in construction, manufacturing or any other field with safety exposure, knowing the ground rules can make all the difference between a successful visit or one where you leave yourself exposed to penalties and a drawn-out appeals process.

After Fed-OSHA froze new rulemaking on heat illness prevention proposed by the Biden administration, the rules are back on the table.

Despite having removed the proposal from its website, the workplace safety agency announced on Apr. 16, 2025, that it will hold a virtual public hearing on its proposed rule to protect workers from hazardous heat exposure in indoor and outdoor workplaces. Here's a look at the language in the proposed standard.