IMPORTANT NOTE: The public comment period regarding the proposed mandatory insurer reporting requirements ends September 30, 2008. If you are a workers’ compensation carrier, self-insured employer, or TPA, you will want to review the “non-GHP” requirements of the proposed rules. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published its preliminary mandatory insurer reporting requirements under the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Act of 2007 at: http://www.cms.hhs.

In its recent decision in VECO Alaska, Inc. v. State of Alaska, Department of Labor, Opinion No. 6291 (July 25, 2008), the Alaska Supreme Court enunciated a standard that appears to make it easier for employers to fulfill the written record requirement for Second Injury Fund (SIF) reimbursement. The SIF statute at AS 23.30.205(c) provides that employers must establish by written records that the employer had knowledge of a permanent physical impairment before a work injur