By Allen C. Smith, Brooks P. Miller, Julianna Grant, and Austin R. Walsh On September 22, 2023, Senate Bill 452, An Act to Make Various Changes to the Insurance Laws of North Carolina, to Amend the Insurance Rate-Making Laws, and To Revise High School Interscholastic Athletics, was presented to Governor Roy Cooper for signature. Because […]
The SMART Act requires CMS to annually review the costs associated with the collection of Medicare conditional payments and set forth a threshold amount applicable to settlements, judgements, awards, or other payments (TPOC amount) for which it will not seek recovery. The threshold amount for 2023 was $750.00. On February 14, 2024, CMS announced the […]
by Joe D. Delfino In several of our most recent articles, we discussed the potential impact of AB5 (California Labor Code § 2775); a law passed in California which went into effect on January 1, 2020 and addressed the classification of certain workers as either employees or independent contractors. Since the passage of AB5, there […]
Allen C. Smith, Austin R. Walsh On 3/1/22, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a partnership with the American Trucking Association (ATA) to participate in the Biden Administration’s 90-day Trucking Apprenticeship Challenge, which is a part of the Administration’s Trucking Action Plan (TAP). To date, over 100 employers have accepted the Challenge that has resulted […]
by Austin Walsh On 5/3/22, the North Carolina Court Appeals published its decision in Tutterow v. Hall, et al. and changed the way Underinsured Motorist (UIM) carriers calculate the coverage available for UIM claims. The holding gives UIM carriers a credit for all liability policies when tendered, not just the first liability policy that offers […]
by Joe D. Delfino In a recent publication, we discussed the issue of what standard the North Carolina Industrial Commission and North Carolina Courts would use to interpret the provision of the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act dealing with the 500-week cap on weekly TTD benefits. By way of review, for workers’ compensation claims arising […]
Allen C. Smith, Austin R. Walsh On 2/7/22, the FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry went live. The Registry maintains a list of registered training providers and a record of all individuals who have completed entry-level driver training. State agencies will have access to the Registry to verify that commercial driver’s license (CDL) applicants have completed the […]
by Austin R. Walsh North Carolina – On 12/17/21, the NC Supreme Court issued its opinion in North Carolina Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., Inc. v. Dana i, which clarifies the maximum underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage available to claimants regardless of whether the liability coverage was exhausted based on the per-person or per-accident policy limits. […]
Before June 24, 2011, injured employees were eligible for lifetime Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits for the duration of their disability. In 2011, the North Carolina legislature passed revisions to the Workers’ Compensation Act. One of the revisions altered N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-29(b), which now states: The employee shall not be entitled to compensation […]
On 2/3/2021, Pete Buttigieg was sworn in as the 19th Secretary of Transportation. On 1/20/2021, President Biden issued an executive order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. On 4/22/2021, in response to PresidentBiden’s executive Order, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposedwithdrawing the SAFE I […]
