Posts Tagged ‘veterans’

Veterans Day 2014 – Hire a Vet

Tuesday, November 11th, 2014


Veterans Employment Toolkit
“…to help employers, managers and supervisors, human resource professionals, and employee assistance program (EAP) providers relate to and support their employees who are Veterans and members of the Reserve and National Guard.
In this toolkit, you can learn about Veterans and the military, such as what Veterans bring to the workplace and what the military structure and culture is like. You can also learn how to support employees who are Veterans or members of the Reserve or National Guard in the workplace, through reading about common challenges and how to help, reviewing communication tips, reading a report about Veterans in the workplace, or by downloading handouts to use with EAP clients. Finally, Veterans and their family members can find employment resources for Veterans.”
Veterans in the Workplace Project
Information for HR Practitioners – Statutes & Regulations
More employment resources for hiring vets
Veterans Crisis Line
crisis-line

Celebrate Memorial Day 2012 by hiring a Vet: You may qualify for a tax credit

Friday, May 25th, 2012

In all the hype about barbecues and beaches, it’s easy to forget the original history of Memorial Day was as a day of remembrance for those who died in our nation’s service. Originally called “Decoration Day,” the tradition began in 1868, a few years after the close of the Civil War. In early commemorations, flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery, but after WWI, the day of remembrance was changed to honor those who died fighting in any war. Over time, many started using the day as a day of remembrance for not just vets, but for commemorating deceased family and friends, as well.
If you’d like to take a few moments to honor the men and women who died in military service, you can visit the Veteran’s Affairs Memorial Day page to learn about related events and traditions.
While we honor the dead, let’s not forget about the living vets who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to face a difficult job market, among other re-acclimation challenges they face when returning home. The unemployment rate for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is about 12%, or 4% higher than the overall unemployment rate.
Potential Tax Credit if You Hire a Vet in 2012
Do you know about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) for hiring vets? It’s a provision in the VOW to Hire Heroes Act 2011. The Act allows employers to claim the WOTC for veterans certified as qualified veterans who begin work before January 1, 2013. Credits are substantial: as high as $9,600 per qualified veteran for for-profit employers or up to $6,240 for qualified tax-exempt organizations. There are a number of factors that determine the credit amount, including the length of the veteran’s unemployment before hire, the number of hours the veteran works, and the veteran’s first-year wages. Learn more about potential tax credits for hiring veterans from the IRS.
Additional Resources
Department of Labor Hiring Veterans – Compliance Programs
CareerOneStop offers employer resources for hiring veterans, including a Military to Civilian Occupation Translator helps service members match military skills and experience to civilian occupations.
US Chamber of Commerce: Hiring Our Heroes, including a map of upcoming hiring fairs.

Risk roundup, pill wars, odd lot, obesity & more

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Risk Roundup – Emily Holbrook hosts Cavalcade of Risk #152 at Risk Management Monitor
Florida’s pill war – Timothy Martin and Arian-Campo Flores of the Wall St Journal take in the Florida landscape after the pill mill crackdown in New Front Opens in the Florida Pill War. They note that, “One former hot spot in Broward’s Oakland Park now has just two pain clinics, compared with 26 a few years ago, said Lt. Pisanti. “It changed almost overnight,” he said.”
However, the addicts haven’t gone away. The authors note that, ” … drug users and dealers adapt to the changing landscape and pill demand shifts to retail pharmacies and other establishments that appear to have been set up to skirt the new restrictions.” The article talks about the pressure pharmacists are facing and an increase in forged prescriptions.
Pill pushing docs, take note – My colleague recently posted about the prosecution of Ohio’s Dr. Paul Volkman, the single most prolific prescriber of Oxycodone and related opioids in the entire country. (Four life sentences) Individual states and the feds are starting to get tough about cracking down on this stuff. Joe Paduda talks about the prosecution of drug-dealing docs in CA, FL, CO and other states. Also see Roberto Ceniceros’ blog post on the race to stop opioid abuse.
“Odd Lot” Doctrine – Dave DePaolo talks about the psychology of disability and the inter-relatedness of disability and mental health as illustrated by a case of a injured Wyoming worker. After his claim wended its way through the courts, the worker was granted permanent total disability benefits under the “odd lot” doctrine.
Is obesity getting a bum rap? – Maggie Mahar challenges assumptions about obesity in her post Obesity: Fact vs. Fiction at Reforming Health blog. As with everything Maggie writes, it’s worth a read!
ADA and Veterans – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently released a new Guide for Employers on Veterans and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). EEOC says that, “The revised guides … make it easier for veterans with a wide range of impairments – including those that are often not well understood — such as traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to get needed reasonable accommodations that will enable them to work successfully.” Related:
Guide for Wounded Veterans, which answers questions disabled vets may have about the protections and rights when returning to their former job or looking for civilian jobs.
Market Pulse – Clair Wilkinson of Terms + Conditions posts about more evidence of a slowly turning market citing new reports and studies.
Quick takes

Health Wonk Review, CTE, bill review, messing with Texas, and more

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Jared Rhoads of The Lucidicus Project hosts this week’s Health Wonk Review, and he dishes up a heaping helping of the blogosphere’s best heath policy posts from the last two weeks. Check it out!
Happy Birthday – to David Williams at Health Business Blog for 6 years of quality healthcare blogging. David is one f the regular Health Wonkers. See his Best of the Blog post for a fine sampling of his work.
More sports-related head trauma tragedy – Earlier this week, my colleague posted about football-related chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Yesterday, the New York Times featured a story about how hockey brawler Bob Probert also suffered from CTE: “But the legacy of [Bob] Probert, who died last July of heart failure at 45, could soon be rooted as much in his head as his hands.After examining Probert’s brain tissue, researchers at Boston University said this week that they found the same degenerative disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, whose presence in more than 20 deceased professional football players has prompted the National Football League to change some rules and policies in an effort to limit dangerous head impacts.”
Bill review – Are you getting what you pay for with medical bill review? At Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda takes some of the mystery out of the equation in his discussion about what your savings should be from your work comp medical bill review program.
Criminal indictment for Massey mine official – Hughie Elbert Stover, the chief of security for Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine has been charged with two felonies related to the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 coal miners. He is accused of lying to investigators and destroying records. On his blog, reporter Ken Ward asks if this is just the beginning of indictments.
Don’t mess with Texas – If you ever use the words “workers compensation” and “Texas” in the same sentence, you better think twice. TX law blogger John Gibson has been issued a “cease and desist” order and threatened with further legal action for his TX Workers Comp Law Blog for having the temerity to use the words “workers compensation” and “Texas” in his blog. We can’t get Gibson’s take because his blog appears to be down (www.texasworkerscomplaw.com), but Julius Young posts the scoop on the Texas workers comp language imbroglio at his Oakland Workers Comp Blog. If you don’t see his post – or ours – please blame Texas. Just to be on the safe side, from here on out we may begin referring to Texas as “Exas-Tay.”
Sedgwick acquires SRS – In a major move in the world of third party administrators, Sedgwick completed the purchased of Specialty Risk Services for $278 million. SRS was the claims TPA arm of The Hartford. In his bog on the Hartford Courant, Matthew Sturdevant reports that: “The deal makes Sedgwick CMS the largest independent North American provider of claims administration services. The combined companies will have annualized revenue of about $1 billion as well as almost 8,500 employees.”
Devil’s in the details – Yvonne Guilbert of Complex Care Blog posts two concrete incidents that show how one small detail missed in home care could easily end up costing $50,000 or more.
Safe hiring practices – As the economy ramps up, new hires will increase an employer’s potential for workplace injuries. At MEMIC Safety Blog, Greg LaRochelle says that a new employee is 5x more likely to have a lost-time injury than a more experienced worker, and that 40% of all workers injured on the job have been on the job for less than a year. He posts about hiring practices to help mitigate risk.
Hiring VetsHR Daily Advisor offers a good roundup of tips and advice for hiring returning veterans. The post includes questions to ask and to avoid during the interview.
Short Takes
AIG results and workers comp
Four steps to evaluate absence policies
Insurance Fraud Hall of Shame 2010
Smiling makes the world go round
7 wellness benefits employees want most

Hot off the press: Health Wonk Review; other news notes

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Louise Norris has posted a very simpsons-esque edition of Health Wonk Review at Colorado Health Insurance Insider. Of course, commentary on the Affordable Health Care for America Act is front and center. This issue is also packed with such diverse topics as limericks and Japanese organized crime bosses. Thanks to Louise for compiling a great edition.
Other news notes
Toxic moldIs workplace mold compensable? Roberto Ceniceros notes that this was a big topic in workers comp circles a few years back, with many predicting it would be the new asbestos. In his blog posts, he looks at a pair of recent court cases dealing with mold claims.
Swine flu – The New York Times reports that the CDC will soon be releasing updated fatality counts for the H1N1 virus, with the new number closer to 4,000 deaths since April rather than the 1,200 previously estimated. While this number is still low in comparison to the 36,000 killed by seasonal flu each year, over 90 percent of seasonal flu victims are over 65 and in most cases have other health problems so it will be interesting to learn the demographics with swine flu. The new figures are expected to be released next week.
Veterans – Just a few followups to Veteran’s day. Consumer Insurance Blog posted a comprehensive rundown of Insurance issues for U.S. military service members & their families. And on another note, we call your attention to one of the most heartwarming and sob-inducing posts we’ve seen in awhile – a compilation of video clips of dogs welcoming home soldiers. Is it any wonder that dogs are now playing a big role in helping vets deal with PTSD?
Smart Pills – Jacob Goldstein of the WSJ Health Blog posts about a new technology that can detect if you forget to take one of your important medications and send you a text reminder – based on a microchip implanted in the pill. Exciting health innovation or brave new world? Katherine Van Tassel of HealthLawProfBlog wonders just who will be keeping track of this information?
Immigration – Peter Rousmaniere posts Important 2008 statistics about immigration. Also, don’t miss his recent post on recent ICE estimates that 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year. Human trafficking is just another way of saying “slavery”- unlike illegal immigrants, there is nothing voluntary about their presence here – these are people who are abducted from homes or deceived with false promises.
Compensability – Man plays volleyball at work and is injured. Is his injury compensable? Check it out at SafetynewsAlert.

Promising PTSD and TBI research holds hope for better treating injured veterans

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

On this Veteran’s Day, here’s a salute to all the veterans and active military service members out there. In the shadow of the horrific events at Fort Hood, this day of commemoration takes on a particular poignancy.
Here at Workers Comp Insider, we have a tendency to view things through the lens of dis-ability and the restoration work-ability because that’s the nature of what it is that we do. So we were particularly intrigued to read about new research that is offering hope to unlock some of the secrets of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI), two of the most frequent and debilitating types of injuries sustained in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Powerful new scanning techniques are allowing doctors to see how the brain changes with such injuries, and doctors are learning that there are many similarities in these injuries, including symptoms like memory and attention problems, anxiety, irritability, depression and insomnia. This leads researchers to believe that the two disorders share brain regions.

“A brain processing system that includes the amygdala — the fear hot spot — becomes overactive. Other regions important for attention and memory, regions that usually moderate our response to fear, are tamped down.
“The good news is this neural signal is not permanent. It can change with treatment,” Hayes says.
Her lab performed MRI scans while patients either tried to suppress their negative memories, or followed PTSD therapy and changed how they thought about their trauma. That fear-processing region quickly cooled down when people followed the PTSD therapy.
It’s work that has implications far beyond the military: About a quarter of a million Americans will develop PTSD at some point in their lives. Anyone can develop it after a terrifying experience, from a car accident or hurricane to rape or child abuse.”

These physical signs that tests are revealing hold the potential to greatly enhance a physician’s ability to accurately diagnose and treat PTSD – an illness that is often unrecognized and untreated. While there is heightened awareness of PTSD, it can be difficult to diagnose and there are limitations for establishing accurate prevalence rates.
Additional Resources on PTSD and TBI
National Center for PTSD – with resources for veterans, the general public, providers, and researchers
Veterans: where to get help for PTSD
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – from the National Institute of Mental Health
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Gateway
Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Defense Center
Traumatic Brain Injury Information Page – from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Traumatic Brain Injury – from the CDC

New Health Wonk Review posted; other noteworthy news

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

For another biweekly issue of the best of the health policy blogs, Brady Augustine hosts The Boys (and Girls) of October edition of Health Wonk Review at medicaidfirstaid. Get a little baseball nostalgia with your health policy. For our neighbors in the Boston area, Brady recalls the era of Carlton Fisk, Carl Yastrzemski, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, and Luis Tiant.
Other news notes…
ADA, RTW and the law – Failure to accommodate an injured worker as they return to the workplace can be costly. Sears is setting a $6.2 million bias case over just such an issue. Sears refused to reinstate a recovering injured worker with reasonable accommodations when he sought to return to work, and subsequently fired him. An investigation turned up more than 100 other employees who sought return to work with an accommodation, but were fired by the company.
New Mexico – “Thirty-three states, including neighboring Colorado and Arizona, already require workers’ compensation for farm workers, although some limit coverage or exempt small farms. But New Mexico’s agricultural workers fall into a job category not protected under state law.” New Mexico agricultural laborers sue for workers’ comp coverage.
PresenteeismIs presenteeism worse than absenteeism? Roberto Ceniceros looks at new research on the issue at CompTime.
Veteran issuesRisk and Insurance has been running an excellent series on issues facing vets on their return from Iraq and Afghanistan, authored by Peter Rousmaniere. The third and most recent installment: Dealing With Scar Tissues. If you haven’t been following, catch up here:
Part 1: Wounded Back Home
Part 2: Frayed Obligations
H1N1 Virus – Jon Gelman makes the case for the urgent need for workers compensation pandemic planning, noting that in the case of emergency, the Federal government has sweeping powers under the Public Health Service Act (PHS) that could disrupt employment throughout the country. He cites a recent Harvard School of Public Health study reveals that 80% of businesses foresee severe problems in maintaining operations if there is an outbreak, and looks at what this might mean to workers comp.
Flu.gov has issued Guidance for Businesses and Employers for the Fall Flu Season. Consumer resources are available at the Consumer Insurance Blog.

New Cavalcade of Risk; other news briefs

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Nancy Germond is hosting this week’s Cavalcade of Risk at her blog, Insurance Copywriter. She should get hazardous duty pay – she tells us that it is 113 degrees by noon on any given day in Phoenix – yikes. Nancy’s post covers topics as diverse as damaged guitars, dog health, and – of course – the health care debate. By the way, you can find more risk-related articles authored by Nancy at AllBusiness.
Other news notes
As we noted previously, Roberto Ceniceros has been attending the Disability Management Employer Coalition annual meeting and has been posting about the meeting on his blog. We found one item that he wrote about in Business Insurance of particular interest: his report that Harley Davidson is using functional assessments to reduce workers comp and disability claims among new hires and in its return-to-work programs. Hanover, Md.-based BTE Technologies Inc. provides the electronic functional assessment testing system and accompanying software and evaluates worksites to perform physical-demand analyses. The “…system evaluates attributes such as range of motion, dexterity, grip strength, lifting ability and tolerance of certain positions. Employees are measured by pushing against a column, lifting weights and other efforts matched to specific job requirements that are recorded electronically.” The company estimates savings of nearly $260,000 in workers comp claims costs by preventing new hire injuries alone, which doesn’t encompass the other benefits and savings from the disability and RTW components.
In Risk and Insurance, Peter Rousmaniere launches a three-part series on health issues facing veterans as they return to the workplace. His first post tells the story of one Sgt. Stephen Kinney of New Hampshire, ho was the victim of an IED explosion on the outskirts of Camp Anaconda in Iraq. Among injuries, Kinney sustained brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that left him unable to resume his prior job as mail carrier.
NIOSH Science Blog posts about safe and health green jobs and tells us that, with its partners, NIOSH has launched a Going Green: Safe and Healthy Jobs initiative. The note that as America moves towards energy efficiency and more environmentally-friendly practices, it is likely that there will be changes to traditional jobs and the creation of new kinds of occupations. The purpose of the initiative is to eliminate hazards in the green jobs through planning, organization, and engineering – a concept known at NIOSH as Prevention through Design (PtD).
Supporting Safer Healthcare posts that U.S. News & Word report has issued its 2009 list of best hospitals.
The Ohio Department of Insurance has a new web address – update your bookmarks accordingly: www.insurance.ohio.gov/ (Please note – we had previously said that it was the Ohio Bureau of Workers Comp that had a new web address but we were wrong – that stays the same: www.ohiobwc.com – sorry for any confusion!)

Hot off the presses: Health Wonk Review; other WC news notes

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Paul Testa of New Health Dialogue Blog takes the notion of a carnival to heart while hosting this week’s edition of Health Wonk Review: All’s Fair in Love and Health Reform. Join him as he takes us along the Midway that is Pennsylvania Avenue, the big tent of bipartisanship, the funhouse mirrors of the health reform debates, and the roller coaster rides in Congress. Great edition!
And in other news…
Think you can safely text while driving? Studies show that drivers overestimate their ability to multitask behind the wheel. This game from the new York Times measures how your reaction time is affected by external distractions: Texting While Driving Simulator.
West Virginia touts progress one year into privatization. Cited among the successes: 154 insurance companies have active workers compensation policies in the voluntary market, the unfunded liability on “old fund” claims has dropped by more than half to $1,5 billion, and claim protests have fallen 68%.
Attorney Jon Gelman looks at the challenges that declining salaries and unemployment pose to workers’ compensation.
Roberto Ceniceros is blogging from the Disability Management Employer Coalition conference. His report yesterday focused on the generational impact on disability, with each generation facing different disability drivers.
James Dao in the New York Times posts about a new study pointing to an increase in mental health diagnoses in vets, usually PTSD or depression: “The study … was based on the department health records of 289,328 veterans involved in the two wars who used the veterans health system for the first time from April 1, 2002, to April 1, 2008. The researchers found that 37 percent of those people received mental health diagnoses. Of those, the diagnosis for 22 percent was post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, for 17 percent it was depression and for 7 percent it was alcohol abuse.”

Return to work and disabled vets

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

The Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of war represent the largest deployment of civilian soldiers since WWII. Of the 1.5 million troops that have served, approximately one in every four is a National Guard member or a Reservist. While the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act offers legal job protections, the road back will not be an easy one for many veterans. Many have suffered profound and life-changing physical injuries; many also face less obvious wounds – Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America estimate that about one in three Iraq veterans will face a serious psychological injury, such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD:

These psychological injuries exact a severe toll on military families. Rates of marital stress, substance abuse, and suicide have all increased. Twenty percent of married troops in Iraq say they are planning a divorce. Tens of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been treated for drug or alcohol abuse. And the current Army suicide rate is the highest it has been in 26 years. One of the goals of any disability program is to help the injured party to recover and to return to their normal lives, including return to work. This is true whether the injury occurred in the workplace, at home, or on the battlefield. Work is not only vital for economic security, for most of us it is also a core part of our identity, an integral part of our lives. A good return to work program can be restorative on a financial, emotional, and psychological plane. Both in the short term and over the longer term, employers will play a vital role in helping veterans readjust to civilian life. This requires that employers have awareness of the many challenges that veterans face and the willingness to provide the resources to support a successful transition.
Enter the Workplace Warrior Think Tank, a coming together of The Disability Management Employer Coalition, several of the nation’s premier insurers, employers, and military and veteran participants with the purpose of helping veterans to ease the transition from the war to the workplace. The group examined challenges and opportunities facing returning employees and identified employer-based resources and strategies. The end product is a useful guide for employers, Workplace Warriors: The Corporate Response to Deployment and Reintegration Highlighting Best Practices in Human Resources and Disability Management (PDF). The guide includes a list of best practice recommendations to help returning vets reintegrate in the workplace. These include such things as celebrating the employee’s return to the workplace, recapping changes that occurred while he/she was gone, and training supervisors to be aware of certain red flags that might indicate a problem. The group also emphasizes that the availability of effective EAP services can be critical to successfully helping veterans to face the many psychological problems that are common in the aftermath of war service.
It’s great to hear about the efforts of the think tank and their recommendations for employers – please help to distribute the guide and raise the issue because as the report notes, “Repercussions and delayed effects of the war experience will be felt in the workplace for decades to come.” Hopefully, this will be the first step in many by leaders in our industry to dedicate resources and attention to this important issue.
For more information and resources:
The Corporate Response to Deployment and Reintegration – this is the full report from Workplace Warriors, available through DMEC.
Wounded Warriors is a blog that collects veterans coverage from the McClatchy Washington Bureau, McClatchy Newspapers, and other sources. It’s a good source of news for items that affect returning vets and their families.
Resources for returning veterans and their families – from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.
Veterans and Military Health – from MedlinePlus
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America – since 2004, the nation’s first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans.