A strategic approach is essential for employers who want to ensure the health and safety of their workforce. This includes both traditional and non-traditional models of healthcare delivery. This session at WCI’s 2019 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference explored best practices for addressing workers’ compensation injuries. Moderator: Arlene Guzik – Director of Occupational Medicine at BayCare Health System Panelists included: Nathan Waldrep, MD – Director of Physician Services at Baycare Health System Warren Sponsler – Attorney and Founding Partner at Sponsler, Bishop, Karen & Hammer, PA Workplace health and safety standards have come a long way since the industrial revolution. Both
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This session at WCI’s 2019 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference gathered a panel of leadership from several companies sharing steps to create an effective culture. Panelists included: Rich Blaser, CEO, Infinite Energy David Bangert, CEO, CHI Overhead Doors Jon McGavin, Area General Manager, JW Marriott & Ritz Carlton Greg McKenna, SVP Communications, Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc. (Moderator) Risk management exposures are growing exponentially and resources are limited. So what can an organization do to address this conundrum? Build an effective safety culture. This can be accomplished in four steps. 1. Establish a Game Plan There are several things you can do
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Telehealth might be the wave of the future, but it is important not to lose the personal human factor of care for injured workers. In this session at WCI’s 2019 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference, panelists discussed how to utilize a variety of clinical solutions to optimize diagnosis and treatment for patients. Moderator: Patricia Hettinger – Senior Regional Claims Manager at Hilton Panel: Susan Shemanski – Vice President, Risk Management Services at Adecco Staffing Ann Schnure – Vice President, Telemedicine Operations at Concentra Andrea J. Buhl – Senior Vice President, Clinically Integrated Medical Program at Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc Jean
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At the 2019 SAWCA Annual Convention, a panel discussed how state regulators monitor employer compliance with regard to purchasing workers’ compensation coverage. The panel was: Scott Beck – South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission Tanner Holloman – Florida Workers’ Compensation Commission Amanda Terry – Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Commission Stan Bexley – Georgia Workers’ Compensation Committee Bob Swisher – Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Commission Wayne Ducote – South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission States uncover potential workers’ compensation premium fraud from multiple sources. These include: Some have their compliance system tied to state tax information so that if wages are paid by an employer
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At the 2019 SAWCA Annual Convention, Tom Hebson from York Risk Services gave a presentation on market cycles in workers’ compensation. Workers compensation has long been characterized by “hard” and “soft” market cycles. In a hard market cycle competition is limited and rates rise. In a soft market cycle you see more completion which drives rates downward. These market cycles are not necessarily linked directly to changes in claims costs but dramatic changes in costs can trigger dramatic changes in the marketplace. Characteristics of a soft market: Premiums declining. Carrier risk appetites expanding. Less restrictive underwriting. Increased capital for carriers
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At the 2019 SAWCA Annual Convention a panel discussed challenges around Medicare Secondary Payer compliance. The panel was: Diana Leahy – ISO (moderator) Rafael Gonzalez – President Settlement Solutions, United Health Group/Optum C. Wade McGuffey, Jr – Partner, Goodman McGuffey LLP Elizabeth Costner – Attorney The landscape for Medical Secondary Payer compliance has been constantly changing. Part of this change has been very positive. Approval times for Medicare Set Aside (MSA) agreements have decreased dramatically. What used to take several months to a year now takes just a few weeks. Another area of change that has been seen is the
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At the 2019 WCIRB Annual Meeting, a session discussed data privacy concerns under the strong data privacy laws in California. The speakers were: Jeremy Merz – American Property Casualty Insurance Association Nicholas Roxborough – Roxborough Pomerance Nye & Adreani Mark Webb – Prop 23 Advisors The 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) takes effect in January 2020. This will significantly impact any company that does business in California. It is the most extensive Consumer Privacy legislation in the United States. For insurance companies this creates significant risks. In particular, carriers need to be reviewing how they are collecting and using
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At the 2019 WCIRB Annual Conference, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara talked about the many challenges they are trying to address at their department. Among his comments: The biggest concern right now is the impact of wildfires on California residents. How do we continue to provide affordable and accessible property insurance to everyone when the private insurance marketplace is pulling back in some areas due to high risk. Mitigation of the risk is key which includes addressing issues such as the types of building materials, the infrastructure, and land management. Right now the State is essentially self-insuring this risk and
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At the WCIRB Annual Meeting, President and CEO Bill Mudge talked about the history of California Workers’ Compensation and the concerns for the future. The session started with a review of the history of California workers’ compensation. Due to a combination of unintended consequences of legislation and case law, carrier combined ratios skyrocket during the late 1990s, eventually reaching over 180% in 2000. The biggest culprit in this was the “presumption of correctness by treating physician” which had the unintended consequence of causing medical costs on claims to increase rapidly as unscrupulous physicians were virtually unlimited in what they could
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At the 2019 WCIRB Annual Conference, Dave Bellusci, WCIRB Executive Vice President and Chief Actuary talked about the status of the California workers’ compensation system. Some key talking points were: Total premiums in California have dropped since 2017 after 7 straight years of increase. There are $15.7 billion in premiums forecast for 2019. Employer payroll growth has been offset by declining premium rates which has resulted in the overall premium declines. The top 10 carriers currently write around 50% of the marketplace. This is the least concentrated the market has been in years. National carriers write the bulk of the
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