At the WCRI Annual Conference, a panel discussed the labor shortage’s impact on their organizations. The panel was: John Ruser – WCRI (moderator) Ann Marie Watkins – Kaiser Permanente Steve Perroots – Marriott International Vance Ayers – International Union of Elevator Constructors Joan Vincenz – United Airlines Airline One of the big lessons from this labor shortage is the importance of planning ahead. Airline pilots have a mandatory retirement age, and many also retired early after the pandemic. If you are not coming out of the military as a pilot, it takes three years of training to become a commercial
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At the 2023 WCRI Annual Conference, Dongchun Wang from WCRI presented a study on the extended use of physical medicine (PM) to treat low back pain. Physical medicine includes therapeutic activities done by a physical therapist. This can range from active movement to the use of electrical stimulation. This study focused on claims involving lower back pain with accident dates from 2015 to 2019 who received PM services more than three months after the injury. This study focused on non-surgical cases. Across the study’s 28 states, the median use of extended PM was 16%. In the highest state (New York),
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At the 2023 WCRI Annual conference, Jill Leonard from Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation (LWCC) and Jeff Rush from California JPIA discussed the impact that severe weather events have on workers compensation. Hurricanes Employer/Employee challenges following hurricanes: Road closures. Extended power outages. Water outages or advisories. Limited access to workplace and utilities. Clean up often required before returning to business as usual. Safety training and safe practices can be in jeopardy. Long work days in extreme heat. Chemicals in water followed by mold exposures. Injured worker challenges following hurricanes: Limited access to medical care due to office closures. Forced relocation leads
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At the 2023 WCRI Annual Conference, Dr. Olesya Formenko from WCRI talked about how medical inflation impacts workers’ compensation. Growth in the Consumer Price Index from 2020 to 2022 was much higher than in previous years, averaging 6.4%. The average growth in the eight years prior to that was 1.6%. The price increases seen in housing, food, and energy were even higher. On the medical side, the CPI for medical and healthcare services was lower than the overall inflation in the last three years. This is a reversal of the prior eight years, where medical inflation was higher than overall
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At the 2023 WCRI Annual Conference, internationally recognized MIT Economist David Autor opened the event talking about globalization and automation and their impact on jobs, the nature of work, and state workers’ compensation systems. Where will the future of work come from? 1. Insatiability People always want more “stuff.” The more people earn, the more they spend. This drives them to want to earn more so they can buy more. 2. Augmentation Better tools allow people to do their job better with less effort and more focus on their expertise. 3. The Invention of New Work In the 1800s, 55%
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At the 2022 SAWCA All Committee Conference, a panel shared information and insight on the current status and changes of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Set-Asides (MSA) and their impact on injured workers, employers, and state workers’ compensation systems. Speakers included: Moderator: James Forrester – Maryland Commissioner Steve Peacock – Director Client Engagement, Safety National Paul Sighinolfi – Senior Managing Director, Ametros Sid Wong – Vice President of Policy, Casualty Solutions, Verisk Professionally-Administered MSAs Roughly 10% of MSAs are professionally administered. The professional administrator ensures the funds are spent in accordance with CMS guidelines and that all
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At the 2022 Sothern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA) All-Committee Conference, a panel of industry regulators discussed some of the challenges they are facing. Represented states included: Colorado Delaware Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi New Mexico South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia Wisconsin Maximum Indemnity Benefits There are concerns from state regulators that low wage workers are significantly harmed when they are only receiving two-thirds of their standard wages in workers’ compensation benefits. Employees receiving little pay prior to their injury cannot survive on even less financially. Most states index their maximum workers’ compensation rates to the state average weekly
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At the 2022 IRMI Construction Risk Conference, the President and CEO of FMI Corporation, Chris Daum, presented the opening session, providing insight into the construction economic outlook, trends that may impact the risks contractors face in their day-to-day operations, and some short- and long-term challenges and opportunities for the industry. Economic Headwinds Currently, we are operating in a “less for more economy” with high inflation driving prices for almost everything. In all previous U.S. recessions, the price of crude oil has increased by over 50%, which has happened twice in the last two years. In the construction industry, nonresidential costs have
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At the 2022 APCIA Annual Meeting in Dallas, TX, a panel discussed the current state of the property and casualty reinsurance marketplace. The panel included: Moderator: Dana Perino – Author and Host, Fox & Friends Speakers: Paul Anderson – Senior Managing Director, AON Will Garland –  President, Centers of Excellence, Guy Carpenter Kerri Hamm – Head of Business Development, Munich Re US What are your biggest concerns regarding the reinsurance marketplace right now? The continued impact of inflation on claims cost. The costs of goods and labor continues to escalate, which is increasing repair and replacement costs significantly in property
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At the 2022 Washington Self-Insurers Association Annual Conference, Liz Fischer, Vice President, Senior Claims Consultant at Marsh discussed Evidence-Based Disability Guidelines and Best Practices. What Are Disability Guidelines? Evidence-based guidelines for medical management and disability duration include nationally-recognized treatments and return-to-work guidelines used to evaluate the necessity and/or effectiveness of medical care. While there are different evidence-based guideline tools available, all rely on extensive data collection and analysis to benchmark disability, treatment and claim costs outcomes. Some of the most frequently used guidelines include the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG), American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and state-specific guidelines,
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