The final panel I moderated was the State of the WC Industry Panel. The panelists were Gordon Clemons from Corvel, Al Hammermiller from UPS, Scott Hudson from Gallagher Bassett, and Jim Wucherpfenning from Travelers. Among the issues discussed included: • How does CA compare to other states: The overall consensus was higher costs and a very administratively complex system. Panelists discussed the fact that higher adjuster turnover was a challenge also. • ACA and potential impact in WC: Panelists felt that access to care, especially specialists could be a significant issue • Impact to industry around pharmacy management: Panelists felt
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The panelists for this session were three attorneys, Adam Dombchik, Michael Gaston, and Michael Sullivan. There were two cases that they spent the most time discussing. Dubon vs World Restoration This case involved a UR / IMR dispute. The WCAB ruled that if a UR decision has a “material defect” then the requirement for IMR is not triggered and the WCAB maintains jurisdiction on the medical dispute. There is significant concern around this decision as it undermines the legislative intent of IMR which is medical disputes are out of the hands of judges and are instead handled by physicians. The
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Mark Walls, VP Communications and Strategic Analysis at Safety National, moderated a panel discussing emerging issues in Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Compliance. The panelists were Kip Daniels of Nuquest/Bridgepoint, Roy Franco of Franco Signor, and Jennifer Jordan of Medval. The panel focused on three significant emerging issues: First, there is an attorney in California who is circulating a memo to employers in which he indicated that the current methods of funding MSAs for settlement is flawed. In this memo, he advocates settlement of claims by C&R with a stipulation that there is no injury. By doing this, he feels funding
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The CCWC Conference was July 16-19, 2014. The event was held at the Grand California Hotel on the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA. They indicated there were over 500 attendees and over 52 speakers at the conference. The opening session was a Legislative – Political update. The panelists were Paul Yoder and Jason Schmelzer from CCWC. The speakers indicated it was too early to determine the ultimate impact of SB 863 as much of that bill has not been fully implemented. They discussed some of the goals of SB 863 and whether those goals are being met. Specifically; Goal: Increased
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The CCWC Conference was July 16-19, 2014. The event was held at the Grand California Hotel on the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA. There were over 500 attendees and over 52 speakers at the conference. Safety National attended and presented at the event.  Mark Walls from Safety National participated in the Bloggers Panel, State of the Industry session, and the MSP Compliance session. The conference web site can be viewed through this LINK