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Using Loss Data to Reduce your Workers Comp Cost

Using claims and loss data can be a helpful tool in reducing your future workers compensation losses. Two types of forms that are readily available are your OSHA logs and your Loss Runs or Claims Reports from your Insurance Carrier.

If you maintain your OSHA log year round, as required, it’s a great tool to provide you with information on where your claims are coming from. It will give you dates, job titles, types of injuries, and days away from work. The OSHA 301 will contain even more detailed information. You can combine this with the Insurance company loss runs to obtain a good amount of information to track and trend. I recommend an accident investigation form be used that contains all the needed information to complete all of your forms after an injury. There are also several online OSHA tracking programs such as OSHATrac.com and OSHA300Online.com that will track your injuries and give various reports.

If you have more than a few small claims, Insurance Carrier loss runs should be provided to you either quarterly or monthly. The loss runs can be very basic so I would recommend asking the broker or carrier what reports are available. Some will have very detailed reports available if you ask. They will show many types of graphs and trends. If your broker makes it hard for you to obtain this information, you could have the wrong broker. In addition to trending, the loss runs will give you good information on what’s going on with the claim since the last loss run. Look for changes in numbers such as paid (amounts already paid on a claim) and reserved (estimates of amounts expected to be paid on the claim) on all open claims. We will discuss this in detail in another article.

This information should be reviewed regularly by the CEO, HR Department, Safety Department, and Safety Committee. They should all be looking at ways to improve your safety and prevent losses in the future by noticing trends. An example might be that all claims in the certain department were from employees there under 1 year. This would mean that they lack proper training and supervision and the training program could be altered to improve this situation.

In addition to looking at past claims to identify a possible future claim, the claims information can be used for actuarial analysis to predict future losses. This is very important if you are under a partially self funded plan or in a captive because it will allow you to predict your claims numbers in the future. The more data that is available, the better the analysis will be. Some auditors may request or require this information when performing your annual audit.

Chris Moxley

#Loss Runs #Claims Data #OSHA Log

NCCI's Oklahoma State Advisory Forum - Tulsa

The Oklahoma Insurance Department will be sponsoring a second NCCI State Advisory Forum in the Tulsa area on October 10, 2014 at a location yet to be determined. The Tulsa State Advisory Forum will contain the same material being presented at the October 9th Oklahoma City location. More information regarding the Tulsa State Advisory Forum will be forthcoming.

This year we will continue to focus on state-specific information and plan to speak in greater detail on:

State system cost drivers

Proposed/enacted state and federal legislation

NCCI studies and economic information

If you have not already registered, please click here to begin the registration process:

State Advisory Forum Online Registration

You can also contact NCCI’s Customer Service Center at 800-NCCI-123 (800-622-4123) and select option seven from the automated menu. One of our customer service representatives will process your registration and send you a confirmation within 24 hours. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to call me at 314-843-4001.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Roy Wood

State Relations Executive

314-843-4001

[email protected]

Please note that this venue does not have self-parking on site and valet is $15/day. There is self-parking in the area at local city garages and they average around $10/day.

This year we will continue to focus on state-specific information and plan to speak in greater detail on:

State system cost drivers

Proposed/enacted state and federal legislation

NCCI studies and economic information

If you have not already registered, please click here to begin the registration process:

State Advisory Forum Online Registration

I look forward to seeing you there.

Roy Wood

State Relations Executive

314-843-4001

[email protected]

NCCI's Oklahoma State Advisory Forum - Oklahoma City

NCCI’s Oklahoma State Advisory Forum will be held at the Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center on Thursday, October 9, 2014, from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon. A continental breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m. The hotel is located at 10 North Broadway Avenue in Oklahoma City, and the phone number is 405-228-8000.

Please note that this venue does not have self-parking on site and valet is $15/day. There is self-parking in the area at local city garages and they average around $10/day.

This year we will continue to focus on state-specific information and plan to speak in greater detail on:

State system cost drivers

Proposed/enacted state and federal legislation

NCCI studies and economic information

If you have not already registered, please click here to begin the registration process:

State Advisory Forum Online Registration

I look forward to seeing you there.

Roy Wood

State Relations Executive

314-843-4001

[email protected]

How Wellness Plans Reduce Your Workers Comp Costs

Many companies are now considering wellness plans and how they can help reduce health insurance costs. With health insurance costs on the rise every year, I can see how this becomes a topic for health insurance brokers and TPA’s (Third Party Administrators) to explore. What is seldom talked about, however, is how a wellness plan can reduce your Workers’ Compensation costs.

When we are looking at ways to cut costs, the addition of a wellness plan is an expense that just might pay for itself. Consider that a Duke University Medical Center analysis found that obese workers filed twice the number of Workers’ Compensation claims, had seven times higher medical costs from those claims, and lost 13 times more days of work from work injury or work illness than non-obese workers did. Further, smokers were absent from work 50% more and took longer to recover from injuries. With Workers’ Compensation costs continuing to rise, a wellness plan can promote the balance between treating injured workers and returning them to work with cost containment strategies.

By implementing a wellness plan and incorporating it into your workplace accident procedures, the ROI (Return on Investment) for Workers’ Compensation alone is estimated at 4:1. Knowing this, some companies are starting to involve the risk management department in the development and implementation of wellness plans and then offering it to injured workers as a way to get them back to work quicker.

Because the best, and easiest way to educate employees and get them engaged in wellness is through their health insurance, many companies are now offering incentives to encourage participation in wellness programs such as lower deductibles, additional employer contributions to HSA accounts, lower coinsurance, etc. On the flip side, others are introducing the “stick” approach whereby deductibles and co-payments are higher, etc. for not participating in wellness initiatives such as smoking cessation plans or health risks assessments.

The real savings derived from a wellness plan that is often overlooked is the cumulative savings when it is incorporated into a company’s benefit package. For example, add all the savings that the health insurance community describes with the Workers’ Compensation facts I just explained and the savings from both sides are exponential. If you are under a fully insured (standard) group health plan and a Workers’ Compensation fully insured plan, this could be a good savings. If you are self insured or insured in a captive or large deductible, the savings could be even more and would start immediately in this case as the cash flow is more rewarding early on with this type of plan.

Would all industries benefit from this approach? Since Construction, Oil and Gas, Service, and Manufacturing pay much higher Workers’ Compensation rates than industries primarily with office workers, they stand to benefit the most from implementing a wellness plan. If I were a CFO at one of these companies I would consider this immediately.

Chris Moxley

#wellness #Workers Compensation

Choosing Medical Providers for Workers Comp

How you choose and work with Medical Providers is a key component in reducing your Workers Compensation costs when an employee is injured on the job. This should be a process similar to hiring a good employee who will become a crucial part of your team. I recommend the following:

Be sure you understand your state law concerning Work Comp

Most states allow you to choose the medical providers for Workers Comp injuries.

If possible, choose a Medical network of doctors after your policy is written. Many insurance companies offer networks of Occupational doctors who are very accustomed to dealing with workers compensation claims and insurance companies. Work Comp is much different than health insurance, so it’s important to work with the appropriate doctor or clinic. Usually, there are Occupational Medical Clinics in larger cities. In smaller towns, employers may send employees to a local physician when they are injured.

Each of your locations should know which physician or clinic an injured worker should go to, their phone number, and address. I recommend posting this somewhere employees can easily see it, such as a bulletin board or in the break room.

Each location should also have the nearest hospital and emergency number (if not 911) readily available for injured employees. This should also be posted.

Set up a meeting with the physician’s office or clinic in advance and let them go through their procedures with you. Tell them what you expect, and find out what they expect.

Get a list of the provider’s staff who handles work-related injuries, as well as their contact information.

Let the provider know if you have an Early Return to Work Policy (ERTW) or Alcohol and Drug Testing Policy. Give them job descriptions of your most common worker classifications.

If you don’t have frequent work-related injuries, schedule annual meetings to keep your medical provider up to date with your procedures.

If you have certain specialist(s) in the area you prefer to use, make sure your provider knows your preferences. If not, ask the provider who they use. This also applies to Physical Therapists. Ask if they own their own PT practice, MRI facility, etc. This lets you know of any possible conflicts.

Communicate to your employees who your local clinic or physician is and remind them of your ERTW Policy (if you have one). This should be done on an annual basis and for all new hires.

If you are having trouble finding a provider, ask a medium-to-large company (50+ employees) in the area who they recommend.

Do not allow employees to choose their own provider unless you have approved them in advance.

Find out the provider’s policies on using pain killers. You want to keep this at a minimum.

#medical providers #doctors #Workers Compensation #oklahoma

Oklahoma Option Savings? - Reduction in Fraud

If you are an employer that has had several claims, it's likely that you have seen multiple cases of what you might consider fraud. Some reasons employees do this include:

To get an off the job injury covered under workers compensation. Workers with no medical coverage are prime for this and also workers comp has no deductible.

To obtain a lump sum settlement. We have seen some employees with over 10 workers comp claims all involving settlements and all involving the same attorney.

To obtain pills - Opioid abuse is at an all time high and Oklahoma is one of the worst states for this. Many work comp doctors will prescribe a complete battery of pain killers which the injured employee may either sell on the black market or take themselves.

I break this down into complete fraud, in which the employee fabricates the entire injury, or modified fraud in which the employee gets legitimately injured and is then swayed by an attorney, friend, or coworker to modify their symptoms to obtain one or more of the above.

The Oklahoma Option makes attorney involvement much harder for the average attorney who is used to dealing with the workers comp system because most claims will routinely be referred to Federal Court due to ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act), which regulates these types of workers comp plans. This can actually benefit the employer.

The Oklahoma Option also greatly reduces the time for reporting a claim because employers can choose reporting requirements under this type of benefit plan. This will curtail the past practice of reporting claims months or often years after the claim allegedly happened.

Chris Moxley

#oklahoma option #opt out #Workers Compensation

Work Comp Update - Oklahoma Option

As of today there have been 2 small companies and 1 large company approved and written under the new "Oklahoma Option" according to Partnersource of Texas. Several more have obtained quotes, but have yet to be approved by the Insurance Comissioner's office. According to the insurance commissioner there are 3 insurance carriers now offering quotes to various size Oklahoma business'. They are reporting premium savings over the new administrative system.

#oklahoma option #oklahoma workers comp commission #partnersource

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Good article from attorney Chris Griswold about forming multiple entities to protect your business assets. Thanks to Tcorblog.com

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