While critics say utilization review (UR) in workers’ compensation claims is nothing more than a cost savings mechanism, an industry expert outlined its benefits recently. During a multimedia series, Inside Workers’ Comp, Todd Andrew of Genex, a medical managed care … Source: Claims Journal

By statute, automobile liability insurance companies are barred from excluding coverage for personal injuries caused to a named insured under Connecticut law. See, Conn. Gen. Stat. (Rev. to 2009) § 38a-335(d). However, the Connecticut statute contains an exception which permits … Source: Claims Journal

Earlier this month Google announced that it will be testing its autonomous vehicles in Phoenix, Ariz. The California-based tech company has already tested its self-driving vehicles in California, Washington and Texas. Varying road conditions, traffic patterns and driving environment were … Source: Claims Journal

Injury and property crashes have increased with the raising of speed limits on the state’s rural interstate highways, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol. The highway patrol said that there’s been a 21 percent increase in crashes on interstate highways … Source: Claims Journal

NASCAR driver and car owner Tony Stewart says he’s not going to keep quiet when he has safety concerns. The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion was fined $35,000 on Thursday by NASCAR after suggesting that the series needs to do … Source: Claims Journal

The owners of nearly half a million polluting Volkswagens in the U.S. will have the option of selling them back to the company or getting them repaired at VW’s expense, under a deal announced Thursday by a federal judge. The … Source: Claims Journal

The city of Bellevue, Neb., the Metropolitan Utilities District, a plumbing contractor and its insurance company disagree about who’s to blame for a ruptured water line that flooded about 12 homes in February. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Gearhart Plumbing, … Source: Claims Journal

Thanks to an arcane state law, Florida could enter hurricane season with no one firmly in charge of the state agency responsible for regulating the state’s at-times fragile insurance industry. The reason? The two Republican elected officials responsible for picking … Source: Claims Journal

Workplace deaths in Washington declined to a near-historic low in 2015, according to a new Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) report. Last year there were 58 work-related deaths in the state — 18 fewer than in 2014. L&I data … Source: Claims Journal

Researchers in Nebraska tested a new tool on Friday that could eventually help in fighting grass fires – drones. A team from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln flew an unmanned aircraft over the prairie at the Homestead National Monument of America … Source: Claims Journal