Court won't speed challenge to MN disclosure law
Headline Legal News
A federal appeals court has declined to fast-track a challenge against a Minnesota law requiring disclosure of corporate political spending.
In an order Monday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion to expedite the case, and it scheduled oral arguments for Jan. 11 in St. Louis, well after the election.
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, the Taxpayers League of Minnesota and a travel company are trying to overturn the law on free-speech grounds.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank last month refused to block the state law.
The groups have also asked the 8th Circuit for an injunction to suspend enforcement of the disclosure law while their appeal is considered. The appeals court took that request under advisement.
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.