Workers’ compensation claims are too often adversarial, leading to unnecessary litigation and increased costs. The advocacy approach to workers’ compensation claims handling focuses on enhancing the injured worker’s experience, which in turn can have a tremendous impact on the success of employers’ program results. At the PARMA 46th Conference and Expo, this live “Out Front Ideas with Kimberly and Mark” session explored the benefits of employee advocacy in workers’ compensation claims. Speakers included: Kimberly George, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, M&A and Healthcare, Sedgwick Mark Walls, Vice President Communications & Strategic Analysis, Safety National Jeff Rush, Workers’ Compensation Program
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From budget issues to cyber and active shooter events, public entity risk managers have a lot on their plates these days. This session at the PARMA 46th Conference & Expo offered risk manager and broker perspectives to a range of recent challenges facing the public sector. Presenters included: David Nunley, Risk Manager (retired), City of Anaheim Steven Schwarz, Risk Manager, City of Fremont Zachary Gifford, Director, Systemwide Risk Management, California State University Robert Lowe, Vice President, Public Entity, Alliant Insurance Services Limits: Nuclear jury settlements are driving up the need for larger limits. Know your exposure. Do a quick risk
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Sexual misconduct claims are extremely challenging to manage. This session at the PARMA 46th Conference and Expo examined issues related to these claims, including jury challenges, risk manager involvement, theories of liability and defense strategies. Speakers included: Peter Glaessner, Founding Partner, Allen Glaessner Hazelwood & Werth LLP Steven Werth, Founding Partner, Allen, Glaessner, Hazelwood & Werth LLP Joseph Rice, Partner, Jury Research Institute Sexual misconduct cases are difficult to defend for several reasons. Jurors become emotionally engaged, become upset with the abuse of power and want to protect victims (especially children), have high expectations of schools and entities, and often
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At the 2020 Insurance Information Institute Joint Industry Forum, a panel discussed the future of insurance. Insurance is undergoing a transformation that will make ours a truly customer-driven business that delivers responsive products, processes and service to greatly improve the lives of all policyholders. This conversation explored the impact and likely outcomes this data-driven revolution will have on insurance organizations’ employees, business culture and bottom line. The speakers were: Moderator: David Sampson, President and CEO, American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) Vincent (V.J.) Dowling, Managing Partner, Dowling and Partners Hayley Spink, Head of Global Operations, Lloyd’s Using information is not
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At the 2020 Insurance Information Institute Joint Industry Forum, a panel discussed ways to create resilience in the face of rising risks. Intro: Dr. Phil Klotzbach, Research Scientist, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University Panel Moderator: Charles Chamness, President and CEO, NAMIC Francis Bouchard, Group Head of Public Affairs and Sustainability, Zurich Insurance Group Steve Clarke, Vice President of Government Relations, ISO Dr. Daniel Kaniewski, Deputy Administrator for Resilience, FEMA Dr. Rick Knabb, Hurricane Expert, The Weather Channel Kenneth Tolson, President, Crawford Claims Solutions, U.S., Crawford & Company The natural catastrophes of 2019 produced multiple billion-dollar disasters in the United States including
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At the 2019 SAWCA All- Committee Conference, Clarissa Preston and David Benedict from NCCI provided an update on legislative issues around the nation. Federal level TRIA reauthorization is one of the most important issues facing the insurance industry right now. A House Committee has passed a bill to reauthorize TRIA for another 7 years. Hearings have started on the Senate side but there are currently no Senate bills introduced on TRIA. There is also Federal legislation introduced that would grant insurers safe harbor for providing insurance products to the marijuana industry. Similar legislation focuses on the banking industry.  State Legislation
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At the 2019 SAWCA All-Committee Conference, a panel of representatives from the insurance industry discussed a variety of issues. The speakers were: Steve Nowak – Trean Corp Mark Walls – Safety National Jeff Eggleston – AKERA Jeremy Terry – KEMI Melissa Blatt – Encova Billy Roberts – AMFed Barbara Cullum – Eastern Alliance Andrew Pauley – NAMIC Regulatory Challenges Comments: Regulators try to push a “one size fits all” approach even when it doesn’t make sense. A carrier based in Minneapolis was requested by a southern state to provide a “hurricane recovery” plan. Another regulator requested that they provide the
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The Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA) is an organization that provides educational and networking opportunities to both state workers’ compensation regulators and members of the community that they regulate. At the 2019 SAWCA All-Committee Conference, a panel of regulators discussed a variety of issues. The panel was: Frank McKay – Chairman, Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation Karl Aumann – Maryland Paul Touriello – Colorado Wes Marshall – Virginia Scott Beck – South Carolina Cassie Brown – Texas Abbie Hudgens – Tennessee Question: Can an inured worker receive physical therapy in your state without a referral from a
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At the 2019 IAIABC Annual Convention, a session discussed the challenges and controversy around the use of the AMA Guidelines to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. This was a live “Out Front Ideas with Kimberly and Mark” session moderated by Kimberly George from Sedgwick and Mark Walls from Safety National. Their guests were: Abbie Hudgens – Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Judge David Torrey – Pennsylvania Department of Labor Dave Sosnow – American Medical Association The American Medical Association workers with physicians around the country to develop the Impairment guidelines, which are used by most states in their workers’ compensation
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The International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissioners (IAIABC) brings together workers’ compensation regulations from around the world with the industry they regulate to discuss a variety of issues. It is a great opportunity for the workers’ compensation community to interact with the industry regulators. One of the highlights of the event is the Heads of Delegation Forum. In this event, the non-jurisdictional members get the opportunity to ask questions to the jurisdictional representatives. There were 29 United States jurisdictions representatives for the session, along with representatives from Germany, Russia, Canada, Australia and others. The session I was in
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