A severance payment issued to an injured worker who was terminated from his job cannot be used to waive his workers compensation claim, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled.

Millions of additional U.S. residents seeking medical attention under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are likely to delay treatment for workers compensation and disability insurance claimants by aggravating a nationwide doctor shortage.

With slips, trips and falls remaining one of the top causes of workers compensation claims, safety experts say more emphasis must be placed on the ergonomic design of workplaces if companies hope to reduce the prevalence of such injuries.

Frank X. Altiere III is president of PMA Management Corp., a Blue Bell, Pa.-based third-party administrator and unit of PMA Cos. He assumed his position in 1999. Mr.