Hank Stern is hosting Third Anniversary Edition of Cavalcade of Risk over at InsureBlog. Hank deserves a pat on the back and many plaudits for all the work he has done in founding and maintaining this carnival. While many contribute and host, he’s the real heart and soul behind this operation – so many thanks!
New in the blogosphere…
In other news, we’re happy to see Business Insurance has made its debut into the blogosphere. We’ve featured reportage by Robertos Ceniceros several times on our blog in the past and he now has a workers comp-focused blog called Comp Time – check out his post today to learn about the work-related risks of Fritos. We also call your attention to Joanne Wojcik’s Benefits Beat – good stuff. There are several other topical blogs that might be of interest.
Sonia Sotomayor
According to a recent article in Insurance Journal Andrea Ortega-Wells, Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor Shows Record of Favoring Insurers. And on the same topic, we again call your attention to Michael Fox’s excellent rundown of Sotomayor’s opinions on labor and employment law.
Chrysler follow-up
To follow-up on the Chrysler bankruptcy-sale issue which we’ve previously discussed, Insurance Journal reports that Fiat has agreed to assume Chrysler’s workers’ comp liabilities in Michigan. According to the Detroit Free Press, Fiat has also agreed ” … to assume responsibility for workers compensation insurance in any states where the new company has operations, such as Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.”
Tools
Employment resources for people with disabilities – this guide from DisabilityInfo.gov has an excellent list of links to a variety of resources for jobs searches, job training, vocational rehab, and many other tools and support services.
Toxipedia is a good new-found reference site, which describes itself as “a wiki-website created to bring experts and lay people together to lessen the information gap between those with knowledge on environmental and public health and those that need the information to lead healthier lives.” Among other site resource, they recently announced that they will be managing the National Library of Medicine’s World Library of Toxicology.
RIMS recently announced that they’d recently re-launched their online RIMS Buyer’s Guide, a directory of risk-related suppliers that can be searched by keyword, category and geography. It should be noted that these are paid listings.
Posts Tagged ‘Chrysler’
Cavalcade of Risk: 3rd Anniversary Edition, and other news briefs
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009Collision course: the potential impact of Chrysler’s bankruptcy & sale on state workers’ comp systems
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009Roberto Ceniceros of Business Insurance has been tracking the potential impact that a Chrysler bankruptcy and sale could have on state workers comp systems. In a story last week, he reports that Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has taken legal action to protect the state. Cox stated that Michigan’s Self-Insurers’ Security Fund could face insolvency as a result of Chrysler’s bankruptcy and sale.
Now, Ohio state officials are raising concerns about how the Chrysler sale could affect Ohio’s workers comp system. This week, Ohio’s Attorney General Richard Cordray has filed a “limited objection” to the pending sale. “While Chrysler’s bankruptcy filings show the automaker is committed to fulfilling its workers comp obligations, the filings do not hold a new owner to the same conditions, the attorney general said.” According to a news report in Columbus Business First, there are about 5,000 Chrysler workers in the state.
It is likely that this issue is on the radar screen for other stat attorneys general, too. Ceniceros states that, “As of Dec. 31, Chrysler had 38,257 U.S. employees. It purchases workers comp insurance in some states while self-insuring in others, according to various state regulator databases.”
And beyond Chrysler, there is the matter of whether General Motors is another likely candidate for bankruptcy – many expect this to be the case – see key dates in GM run-up to bankruptcy deadline. GM is a much larger company so problems could be multiplied, a matter that we discussed in our December posting about Maryland officials monitoring GM solvency related to workers comp.
For more on the way bankruptcy works for both insured and self-insured entities, see our postings of Robert Auerbach’s three-part series on bankruptcy and workers compensation, part 2, part 3.
