At the 2022 PRIMA conference, a session discussed the impact that presumptions are having on the grand bargain of workers’ compensation. The speakers were: DeeAnn Wagner – Sedgwick Paula Lowder – Colorado Special Districts Property & Liability Pool Helana Barmore – Texas Association of Counties Jeff Rush – California JPIA When workers’ compensation was initially developed, it focused on traumatic injuries in the workplace. Over time, the system added repetitive trauma claims, or certain occupational diseases and injuries occurring gradually over time, expanding coverage well beyond the initial intent of the law. However, these areas of expansion were tied to
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At the 2022 NCCI Annual Insights Symposium, a session discussed how changes to the labor force are impacting workers’ compensation. The speakers were Len Herk and Carolyn Wise from NCCI. Highlights In the latest jobs report, there were over two million less people in the workforce compared to pre-pandemic figures from 2019. Labor shortages have been universal, but have been concentrated in businesses that laid off workers during the pandemic. Labor shortages have led to higher wages and benefits, empowering workers to seek jobs across different sectors and occupations. The workplace itself has also been changed. There is more remote
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At the 2022 NCCI Annual Insights Symposium, NCCI Chief Actuary, Donna Glenn, presented the annual State of the Line Report. This includes workers’ compensation data from NCCI states on primary workers’ compensation policies. The highlights were as follows: For calendar year 2021, workers’ compensation had the lowest combined ratio of all property-casualty lines. In some ways, 2020 and 2021 were anomalies, but in other ways, it followed prior patterns. Workers’ compensation premiums increased slightly in 2021 vs. 2020, after dropping significantly in 2020 from 2019. Net written premiums, including state funds, were $43 billion. The calendar year combined ratio for
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At the 2022 NCCI Annual Insights Symposium, Katherine Williamson from NCCI discussed the impact catastrophes have on workers’ compensation. Understanding Past Events There have been many past events that redefined workers’ compensation risk with the first being the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911. Workers’ compensation and many workplace safety laws arose after this. In 1947, the port of Texas City in Galveston Bay was destroyed by multiple explosions. 581 were killed and thousands more were injured, highlighting the extraordinary potential impact of a workplace accident on workers’ compensation. The September 11 attacks were the costliest workers’ compensation events ever with
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At the 2022 Executives in Workers Comp Conference, a panel discussed the benefits of self-insurance for your workers compensation program. The speakers were: Jeffrey Einhorn – CEO, NonProfits’ United G. Michael Lyon – President, SIG Solutions, Inc. Lyn Booz – Chief, Office of Self-Insurance Plans Jon Wroten – Managing Director, California Risk Advisors LLC It is important for self-insured employers to maintain strong loss control programs because they are spending their own money until reaching their excess policy’s retention level. Great loss control practices can lower claims costs and improve outcomes for injured workers, resulting in additional savings compared to
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At the 2022 WCRI Annual Conference, Vennela Thumula from WCRI presented studies regarding the impact of prescription drug formularies in various states. A workers’ compensation drug formulary is a list of prescription drugs that can be prescribed and dispensed with no prior authorization. 17 states now have drug formularies for workers’ compensation with Texas implementing the first in 2011. Some states develop their own formularies while others use the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) or the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) guidelines. California California implemented their drug formulary on January 1, 2018. In the first quarter following implementation,
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At the 2022 WCRI Annual Conference, a panel discussed how the pandemic has changed the workplace. The speakers were: Denise Algire – Albertsons Companies Dan Allen – Construction Industry Service Corporation Craig Ross – Liberty Mutual Sebastian Negrusa – WCRI Vaccine Requirements Educational efforts around the vaccine have been successful in many industries, leading to high vaccination rates among employees. While some companies implemented vaccine mandates for a variety of reasons, most did not feel this was necessary. Long COVID The Department of Labor (DOL) has classified “long COVID” as a disability that requires accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities
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At the 2022 WCRI Annual Conference, Robert Hartwig, Associate Professor of Finance from the University of South Carolina, talked about a variety of issues impacting the economy and workers’ compensation. Inflation Overview and Impact The current drivers of inflation are rooted in pandemic-related supply chain disruption and monetary policy changes made in response to the pandemic. The federal government passed six COVID relief bills totaling $5.7 trillion, creating a substantial influx of cash into the economy which had a very predictable impact on inflation. Inflation is also being heavily influenced by high oil prices. As it relates to workers’ compensation,
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At the 2022 PARMA Conference, a session discussed the evolving ways that police departments are responding to situations involving mentally ill suspects. Speakers included: Kevin Allen – Allen, Glaessner, Hazerwood & Werth John Robinson – Allen, Glaessner, Hazerwood & Werth Thomas Sims – Watsonville Police Department About 10% of police interactions involve someone with mental illness and 25% of officer-involved shootings involve a suspect with mental illness. These interactions are riskier because typically the calls last longer, require more than one officer, do not involve a felony, and are volatile situations involving risk to the safety all parties. According to
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At the 2022 PARMA Annual Conference, a panel discussed the importance of mental health wellness programs for your employees. The speakers included: Jena Covy – City of Bakersfield Christie Tenter – City of Bakersfield Alan Ernst – City of Modesto Tina Casola – First Alarm Wellness Traditional employee wellness programs have always focused on physical health. However, any good wellness program needs to address mental health, as this is an important and neglected component in overall employee health. There are many stressors in everyone’s lives, both from workplace and personal issues. These problems can persist and worsen unless an employee
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