Employers and insurers should take note of a West Virginia Supreme Court decision involving permanent total disability thresholds. In March 2017, the Court issued its decision in Cooper v. Appalachian Power Company, determining that the Rule 20 spine impairment tables must be used when calculating whole body medical impairment ratings in WV.

On February 14, 2017, State Senators Blair and Azinger introduced Senate Bill 287 to create a new Code section dealing with Medical Monitoring.  It is similar to another Bill, introduced by Senators Trump and Weld that I previously discussed here, SB 236.  Both Bills propose that plaintiffs awarded medical monitoring relief (future medical surveillance or screening) will not receive money for medical monitoring until the actual screening procedures have occurred and been completed.  

In the 2006 Regular Legislative Session, the West Virginia (WV) Legislature enacted the WV Preventive Care Pilot Program, Chapter 16, Article 2J of the West Virginia Code. The purpose of the pilot program was to test the feasibility of patients obtaining direct primary and preventative care from healthcare providers for a pre-paid retainer outside of the traditional health insurance model. (Direct primary care or "DPC" is one model of a now popular term, "concierge medicine.”) The Preventive Care Pilot Program by enactment expired June 30, 2016, although practitioners who were participating in the Pilot Program were permitted to continue beyond the expiration date. Its legacy is the WV Direct Primary Care Practice Act.

In 2017, the West Virginia (WV) Legislature proposed legislation eliminating the requirement for wage payment bonds for some employers. Instead, the Legislature passed a weakened WV Senate Bill 224, amending the Wage Payment and Collection Act to keep the wage bond requirement but shortening the period such bonds are required. 

Will the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit allow the new overtime rule to go into effect? If it does, how long will it take for President-elect Trump and the Republican-led Congress to stop the rule? And what should employers do in the meantime?

On November 22nd, a federal judge in Texas issued a temporary injunction against the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL"). That injunction prohibits the DOL from enforcing the new overtime rule. As expected, the DOL has filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals. A few days ago, the DOL also filed a motion with the appellate court seeking an expedited review of its appeal. This motion seeks to shorten the time for each side to file its written arguments with the court, so that the court can quickly proceed to consider the case and issue its ruling.