The average monthly wage should reflect the injured worker’s actual monthly earning capacity.

On March 14, 2024, the claimant was in a motor vehicle accident while operating the leased truck, and he stopped working for the employer afterwards. The claimant filed a claim for temporary medical benefits and medical benefits. The employer contested the claim by arguing that the claimant was an independent contractor, and thus they are not liable for worker’s compensation benefits.

In Roadsafe Traffic Systems, two claimants were seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident during their commute to work in a RoadSafe company truck. RoadSafe disputed the claims, arguing that the claimants’ injuries did not arise out of and in the course of their employment as they were commuting to work.

In Gallegos, the claimant sustained an admitted work injury to his neck on September 5, 2019. From September 2019 to April 2022, Claimant alleged considerable pain in his neck, back, and left shoulder. Claimant also reported to his medical providers that he had lower back surgery in 2012, but no other medical history. When his authorized treating providers released him to restricted duty around late October 2019, the claimant worked for two days before asserting he could no longer work due to the pain, and he never returned to work. Upon further investigation, the employer found that the claimant had asserted prior worker’s compensation claims and applied for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits on multiple occasions based on alleged neck, back, and shoulder injuries.

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DOWC) recently announced changes to Rule 16-3(E)(3) regarding the use of a Physician Assistant (PA) or Nurse Practitioner (NP). The physician responsible for all services rendered to an injured worker by a PA or NP must evaluate the injured worker at least once within the first three visits to the Designated Provider’s office.

The Colorado Division of Workers' Compensation announced changes to Rule 11 effective on April 1, 2025 to reduce process delays, provide consistent Division IME packets and ease the physician review process.

In Ackley, the claimant challenged the Utah Labor Commission’s (the Labor Commission) denial of her claim for worker’s compensation benefits, contending that the Labor Commission mis-applied the idiopathic fall doctrine in her claim.

In Dery, the Industrial Claim Appeals Office (the Panel) affirmed the decision of the ALJ to deny housekeeping services as a medical benefit.

In Atencio, the Colorado Court of Appeals (the Court) held that respondents were not required to reopen claimant’s case after filing their final admission of liability to recoup an overpayment.

The Colorado Court of Appeals (the Court) determined in Peitz, as a matter of first impression, that Rule 11-5 of the Workers’ Compensation Rules of Procedure (WCRP) does not prohibit a physician performing a DIME from evaluating all aspects of a worker’s injury in determining whether the worker has obtained maximum medical improvement (“MMI”).