( February 2, 2026, 12:27 PM EST) -- BOSTON — A Massachusetts appellate court panel on Jan. 30 reversed and remanded a state reviewing board decision denying a reinsurer’s reimbursement of cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) benefits paid after exhaustion of a self-insured employer’s statutory bond, ruling that the board improperly imposed an extra-statutory bar to recovery by denying reimbursement based on the employer’s insolvency and the reinsurer’s nonparticipation in trust fund assessments, grounds not authorized under the workers’ compensation reimbursement framework....