It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic is already wreaking havoc on the economy. It this session at NCCI’s AIS Virtual Conference, Robert Hartwig, PhD, CPCU, presented the pandemic’s effect on our economy and the workers’ compensation system. The property/casualty industry is entering the COVID-19 era with significant financial strength, which is positive. The industry ended 2019 with a record $858 billion in policyholder surplus. The pandemic, however, will stunt growth in 2020 and likely into 2021, due to huge amounts of exposure for the industry. Commercial lines will likely be more severely hit than personal lines. Workers’ compensation
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Risk management data can make your business more transparent, efficient and flexible. In this session at the WSIA 2020 Annual Conference, Consulting Actuary Mary Daly, a principal in Oliver Wyman’s Los Angeles office, explains the uses of varying types of risk management data and how each provide immense value to your organization. Why Invest in Advanced Data? While aggregated data can provide helpful insight in the workers’ compensation industry, it tends to be limited. Extended types of data can allow us to be more proactive than reactive. Economic uncertainty is the perfect time to invest in technology because it: Improves
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In this session at the WSIA 2020 Annual Conference, Kimberly George, Senior Vice President for Corporate Development, M&A, and Healthcare for Sedgwick, and Mark Walls, Vice President for Communications and Strategic Analysis for Safety National, discuss the major issues affecting workers’ compensation this year and how COVID-19 has drastically impacted each. Election Impact There is much to consider as the presidential and congressional elections happen later this year. If Democrats take control of the Senate, there may be changes in state workers’ compensation laws. We can also expect COVID-19 to impact voter turnout and how the public responds based on
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With new generations entering the workforce and technology offering new data and resources, claims management has certainly evolved over the years. In contrast, antiquated administrative processes and outdated claims handling objectives remain prominent. In this session at the WSIA 2020 Annual Conference, Max Koonce, Chief Claims Officer of Casualty at Sedgwick, offered insight into the current casualty claims environment, including COVID-19’s impact. Opioids Interestingly, COVID-19 is dominating the media and we have not seen the same push of information about opioids that we regularly see. That being said, we are not necessarily over our opioid problems. Studies do show a
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From attacks on exclusive remedy, to rapidly-evolving presumption laws, there are several workers’ compensation issues that should be on your radar. In this session at the WSIA 2020 Annual Conference, Robert ‘Buz’ Minor, Executive Director of the National Council of Self-Insurers (NCSI), shared national trends and their impact on the industry. Attacks on Exclusive Remedy The “Grand Bargain” refers to the creation of workers’ compensation, which detailed that employers would be required to cover work-related injury costs. A 2015 article from ProPublica, called, “The Demolition of Workers’ Comp,” accused that states were slashing benefits, denying injured workers when they need
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In this session at the WSIA 2020 Annual Conference, Joel Stacks, Director of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, shared the latest updates on the state’s workers’ compensation system. The governor has recently announced his plan to re-open Washington. That decision was driven by data with considerations on whether they had the infrastructure available related to testing, identifying cases and tracing. They started opening essential services, with a plan to move on to parks, construction, curbside retail and so on. To re-open, they began with a focus on prevention. This included five key elements: Social distancing – Redesign
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At the 2020 WCRI Annual Issues & Research Conference, a panel discussed the importance of mental health for injured workers. The speakers were: Dr Leslie Boden – BU School of Public Health Francis Callahan, Jr – MA Building Trades Council Mary Christiansen – Southern California Edison Dr Kenneth Larsen – New England Baptist Hospital Dr Randall Lea -WCRI, moderator Dr Boden started by presenting results from a study done in New Mexico on injured worker mortality. The 19-year study of over 100,000 workers linked data from workers’ compensation, social security, and the national death index. The study showed showed a
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At the 2020 WCRI Annual Issues & Research Conference, Dr L. Casey Chosewood from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) talked about their efforts around total worker health. Total worker health is defined as policies, programs and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being. The five essential elements of Total Worker Health are: Demonstrate leadership commitment to worker safety and health at all levels of the organization. Design work to eliminate or reduce safety and health hazards and promote worker well-being. Promote
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At the 2020 WCRI Annual Issues and Research Conference, a session discussed key findings from various WCRI studies. The presenters were: Carol Telles – WCRI Dr Randall Lea – WCRI Dr Rebecca Yang – WCRI Trends in Hospital Inpatient Metrics Hospital inpatient payments accounted for 17% of total medical payments in the typical study state. Range was 12% to 23% in study states. The long-term trend is a decrease in the percentage of claims with hospital inpatient care. A big factor in this trend is increased use of outpatient surgical centers. The study showed an increase in costs per inpatient
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At the 2020 WCRI Annual Issues & Research Conference, Vennela Thumula with WCRI talked about their studies on opioid dispensing trends and alternatives for pain management. Between 2014 and 2018, they saw decreases in opioid prescribing in all study states. The biggest decreases were seen in California and New York which implemented new drug formularies during the study period. The highest prescribing is still seen in Louisiana and Arkansas. The average Morphine Milligram Equivalent (MME) dispensed decreased in every study state except Delaware. The biggest reduction was seen in New York. Offsetting the decrease in opioid prescriptions was an increase
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