Around AASCIF

British Columbia

Dr. Rosyln Kunin assumed the role of Chair of WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors on May 15, 2008. Dr. Kunin has served for the past six years as a public interest representative on the Board. She is the principal of Roslyn Kunin and Associates Inc., an economic consulting company, a senior fellow of the Canada West Foundation and a member of the Order of Canada. Dr. Kunin succeeds Douglas Enns who is leaving after his six year term to devote more time to his consulting practice. Enns will continue as a Board member until the end of the year to assist in the transition. Also joining the Board is Dr. Henry Harder, a registered psychologist specializing in rehabilitation and family psychology. Dr. Harder holds a doctorate in counselling psychology, has practiced in the field of vocational rehabilitation and disability management for 17 years and is an associate professor and chair of Health Sciences at the University of Northern British Columbia.

Registration is now open for one of the largest workers’ compensation administration events ever held in North America. The combined Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC) Learning Symposium and the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) annual convention will be held at the Vancouver Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, October 25-31. The event theme--SAFER-SMARTER-STRONGER— headlines internationally renowned speakers Ian Percy (inspirational speaker and author of “Going Deep” and “Profitable Powerhouse of Purpose”) , Joel Bakan (author of the book and hit documentary “The Corporation”), and Richard Pimental (advocate and real-life personality behind the movie “The Music Within”). The event will also feature Paralymic athlete, Paul Rosen and Donna Wilson of the Vancouver Olympic Committee who will highlight how this Olympic host city is making Olympic and Paralympic Games history. For more program information and sponsorship opportunities see the conference website at www.BCin2008.com.

Colorado

• Even with the economy struggling, Pinnacol has remained financially strong through the first half of 2008. Most of our year-to-date (YTD) results are consistent with our expectations. One of the key measurements we use to measure financial performance is customer (premium) retention. Through June 2008 YTD, this number was extremely high at 94.09 percent--compared to 93.15 percent through June 2007 YTD--reflecting our high customer satisfaction numbers. In a recent policyholder survey, we received our highest-ever rating of 9.0 out of 10 points for overall customer satisfaction.
• Pinnacol has named Carole Sumption our new of vice president of human resources and corporate services. Sumption comes to Pinnacol with over 25 years of senior leadership experience in human resource management. Most recently, she was the vice president of relationship management for Oppenheimer Funds.
• Pinnacol has been named one of the "2008 Best Companies to Work for in Colorado." We placed second in the Large Companies (250 employees or more) category in our first year of applying for the award. Our ranking was based on responses to an employee survey and an evaluation of our written application.
• In June 2008, Pinnacol received our ENERGY STAR® rating from the Environmental Protection Agency. When compared to companies of similar size, employee count, and industry, Pinnacol is near the top of the energy efficiency scale. We were rated a 94 out of 100 for measurably costing less to operate and for improving the quality of our environment.
  

Kentucky

Inaugural KEMI Mine Safety & Training Competition a Success

KEMI held the first ever KEMI Mine Safety & Training Competition in Pikeville, Kentucky on August 13-14, 2008. The two-day event drew together more than 300 competitors representing 30 coal companies from four states (KY, WV, VA & IL) as well as more than 150 representatives from MSHA and the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety & Licensing. To view photos and results from the event, stay tuned to www.kemi.com.

Louisiana

LWCC Announces Rate Decrease
Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation (LWCC) has announced a 12.7 percent overall rate decrease in its independent rate plan for 2008. The rate reduction, which follows a 7.6 percent decrease in 2007, will go into effect October 1, 2008.

It marks the fourth consecutive year that LWCC has lowered overall rates. “Since its inception in 1992, the company has reduced overall rates by more than 45 percent, demonstrating LWCC’s commitment to its policyholders,” said President and CEO Kristin W. Wall.

One of the hallmarks of LWCC’s mission is to provide Louisiana employers with workers’ compensation insurance at the lowest feasible cost.

LWCC Named to Ward’s 50 Again
For the seventh consecutive year (2002-2008), LWCC has been named one of the 50 top-performing property-casualty insurers in America.
LWCC was selected as one of the Ward’s 50 from among more than 3,000 property-casualty insurance companies nationwide. The designations are issued annually by Ward Group, a Cincinnati-based management consulting firm acknowledged as the leading authority on benchmarking and best practices services for the insurance industry.

“ The fact that LWCC has attained this high standard for seven straight years demonstrates our commitment to providing the very best service to our policyholders, injured workers, and agents,” said President and CEO Kristin W. Wall. “As the only Ward’s 50 property-casualty company from Louisiana, we are proud to receive this designation that is based on safety, consistency, and performance.”

Each Ward’s 50 company has passed all safety and consistency screens and achieved superior performance over the five years analyzed, 2003-2007. The Ward’s 50 property and casualty insurance companies produced an 18.7% return on average equity over the five years compared to 14.6% for the property and casualty industry overall.

Maine

MEMIC Now Licensed in California, West Virginia
MEMIC Indemnity Company recently earned its license to do business in California, the 43rd state in which MEMIC now offers workers’ comp. This effectively puts a cap on MEMIC’s five-year effort to gain access to every available market in the Lower 48 of the U.S.

MEMIC’s EPLI Product Taking Off
MEMIC Edge with EPLI, the company’s newest offering, was offered to new business as an endorsement to workers’ comp policies on January 1, 2008. Renewal business started adding the option on April 1, 2008. So far, more than 2,000 MEMIC policyholders have selected this additional coverage. In addition, MEMIC Edge with EPLI was featured in National Underwriter’s E &S Specialty Lines Extra in an August article by NU Managing Editor Susanne Sclafane.

MEMIC, PLM Form Marketing Alliance
MEMIC has entered into an informal marketing partnership with Pennsylvania Lumbermen's Mutual Insurance Company (PLM) to open relationships between the two insurers and potential customers in the lumber and wood business. This partnership is being introduced in Connecticut and Rhode Island but may reach across all states in which MEMIC does business.

Safety Net
On July 1, MEMIC launched a new blog, called MEMIC Safety Net. Safety Net covers workplace safety topics across all industries, weighs in on seasonal subjects and reacts to current events and safety trends.

Maryland

IWIF Announces New Officers, Members Appointed to Board of Directors
Maryland’s IWIF Workers’ Compensation Insurance announces new Officers elected to the Board of Directors and welcomes new Board members. The new officers include:
Rocky V. Gonzalez, Chairman
R. Bruce Alderman, Vice Chairman
Patricia McHugh Lambert, Secretary
Frank D. Boston, Treasurer

The new members include:
Leonard (Bud) G. Schuler, Jr., effective March 17, 2008
Charles Dankmeyer, effective June 1, 2008
Kenneth Nwafor, effective June 1, 2008
Joseph M. Coale, III, effective June 1, 2008. Mr. Coale was the former IWIF Board Secretary from 1983-2003.
Remaining on the board is member Queen Logan Gladden.

Board members are appointed by the Governor to serve two, five-year terms.


IWIF proudly announces the following promotions:

Rona Finkelstein, Esq., was promoted to Senior Vice President of Legal and Human Resources. She was previously Vice President.

Donna Wilson was promoted to Senior Vice President of Communications and Strategic Planning. She was previously Vice President.

Kama Kolbe was promoted to Vice President of Underwriting. She was previously Assistant Vice President.

Frank Linardi, CPA, was promoted to Vice President of Finance and Controller. He was previously Controller.

Nancy Wilson was promoted to Vice President of Claims. She was previously Assistant Vice President.

Annemarie Coughlin was promoted to Territorial Marketing Director. She was previously an Underwriter.

Paulette Lundy was appointed Human Resources Director. She was previously a Claims Director.

Minnesota

SFM recently launched a new online system through which independent agents can quote, bind and submit business. SFM Application Manager (SAM) leapfrogs the capabilities of competitors’ online systems, reaffirms SFM as the service leader for agents and is expected to generate growth in business.

This was a considerable undertaking for the company, involving well-conceived technical development of the system and extensive promotional and roll-out activities.

The first 24 hours after launch produced greater activity from agents than expected. At the end of three weeks, 47 percent of all applications submitted to SFM were submitted through the new system—an outstanding response far exceeding our success target. In addition, the overall volume of applications submitted to SFM is up, and it appears that a substantial portion of these online apps would not have been submitted but for the new system.

Indications are very positive that agents will continue using the new system into the future: First-time users rate the system high, say they’re likely to use it again soon, and 100 percent say they would recommend the SFM system to others in their agency.

Read the news story in SFM’s agent publication.

Montana

Focus on Safety
Montana State Fund recently launched www.safemt.com. The site is dedicated solely to workplace safety and is intended to help our state’s employers and employees focus on ways to build effective safety cultures at their businesses. Safemt.com offers a complete set of practical safety tips, videos, useful resources and convenient forms. Additionally, it provides a unique perspective of workplace safety issues and their effects on Montana’s economy.

Medical Conference
Low Back Pain: Diagnosis and Treatment is the topic for MSF's eighth annual medical conference slated for November 21, 2008. The medical conferences are an opportunity for medical providers, claims’ examiners and workers’ compensation professional to further their knowledge about relevant medical topics that affect many of our injured employees.

New Appointment
Dick Root has been appointed to the position of Vice President of Operations. In this role he will lead Montana State Funds’ efforts in the area of claims management. Root was formerly the Underwriting Services Leader at MSF and has over 30 years experience in insurance.

New York

NYSIF announced a new eCHECK service for businesses. NYSIF eCHECK allows policyholders to pay workers’ compensation and disability premium by electronic funds transfer from a bank account at no charge to the customer.

This new service is a convenient, easy-to-use method for policyholders to pay their bills without having to use a credit card or mailing a payment.

Both workers’ compensation and disability benefits policyholders can take advantage of the new feature by visiting nysif.com. When the transaction is complete, the system displays total payment amount and issues an on-screen confirmation and printable receipt. Policyholders can also make an eCHECK payment by phone.

The new eCHECK service is just one more enhancement of NYSIF’s recently redesigned, award-winning web site, including sections devoted specifically to serving policyholders, claimants, brokers and medical providers for whom NYISF offers an expanding array of electronic services.

Northwest Territories and Nunavut

WSCC Gives Employers the Safe Advantage
Launched in 2007 by the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Safe Advantage is a financial incentive program that rewards companies with good claims experience costs and proven safety and return-to-work practices. Safe Advantage targets large employers with average assessments over $40,000. Stakeholder response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. Feedback supports an emphasis on fairness and accountability, making sure only those with lower claims costs and proven safety and return-to-work practices are eligible for program refunds.

Go Safe World Becomes a Reality
Originally piloted in 2007, the Go Safe program is an exciting partnership between northern employers and the WSCC. Geared towards improving workplace health and safety, Go Safe equips employers with support and resources to prevent serious illness, incidents, and injuries in the workplace by helping them create and implement health and safety programs.

The latest extension of the program is Go Safe: the Safety Game. Hazard assessment based, the game requires players to identify and fix the hazards as they travel through the Go Safe world. Four levels set in different workplace settings deliver prevention messages more effectively, as players use them to complete the game. The WSCC is excited to offer northerners this new educational tool.

All About the Numbers
I’m Not a Number, the latest WSCC awareness campaign, targets young workers (workers under 25), and encourages them not to become another statistic. The campaign is in response to stats that show young workers represent 17% of established WSCC claims. The tag line of I’m Not a Number is used across all ads and materials, supplemented with strong injury stats. The latest poster in the series can be viewed on our website at http://www.wcb.nt.ca/Advertising/I%20am%20not%20a%20Number/WSCC-SYWposter.JPG.

Ohio

Ohio BWC Setting a New Course
Ohio is undertaking a comprehensive effort to fundamentally improve the state’s workers’ compensation system for the long term. Sweeping, customer-focused reforms are restoring operational excellence and charting a roadmap for the future of Ohio’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC).

This roadmap highlights four objectives for improving the system to:

• Ensure stable costs for employers;
• Set accurate rates to fairly match premiums with risks and properly distribute costs among all employers;
• Provide better services for employers and to enhance the quality of life of injured workers; and
• Promote workplace safety to increase awareness and prevent accidents.

BWC Administrator Marsha Ryan and the agency’s independent Board of Directors have led the charge to restore operational excellence by working to modernize rules and regulatory processes. These changes will make BWC more responsive to the needs of injured workers and employers. BWC and its board are working closely with legislators, stakeholders and the public in implementing reforms, including:

• Reducing premium rates for private employers by 5 percent and by 10 percent for universities and state agencies;
• Instituting the new Micro Insurance Reserving Analysis II (MIRA II) claims reserving system. MIRA II produces more accurate reserves on each claim and provides greater transparency for Ohio’s employers;
• Reforming rate-making processes to provide greater stability for employers and reduce base rates by as much as 25 percent;
• Capping premium increases due to an employer’s claim history at 100 percent;
• Developing new, performance-based options to encourage employers to manage costs and improve workplace safety; and
• Expanding educational opportunities for employers to prevent workplace accidents.

“We are making significant progress in our efforts to reform Ohio’s workers’ compensation system,” said Ryan. “BWC and its Board of Directors will continue to implement positive change that will benefit the economic success of Ohio employers and the health and well-being of injured workers.”

For details on BWC’s plan to restore operational excellence, visit www.ohiobwc.com/reform.

Oklahoma

Stable rates continue
CompSource Oklahoma continues to maintain a stable financial position throughout 2008 with a loss ratio under 100 percent. Overall average rates for the year remain unchanged while CompSource maintains solid assets and reserves to withstand soft market conditions. In analyzing workers’ compensation premium written among the top 10 carriers in Oklahoma, CompSource placed first with a market share of 37.8 percent.

Agent program successful
The agent program continues to be successful at CompSource since beginning in 2002. CompSource currently has approximately $71 million of written premium within the agent program. The earned to incurred loss ratio for 2008 is 31.8 percent.

State high court rules against homebuilder
“ Good faith” and “good business judgment” are not synonymous terms, justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed in finding a homebuilder made a bad business decision when he trusted a subcontractor to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage for workers. Read an interesting article on Oklahoma’s Supreme Court decision.

CompSource hits the mark with Pharmacy Benefit Manager
CompSource Oklahoma received the Governor’s Commendation for Excellence this spring for its Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM). CompSource’s PBM is administered through Healthesystems and eliminates paper bills, increases efficiency and reduces processing time for claims staff and pharmacies while passing costs savings on to policyholders. With the PBM, CompSource has eliminated 70 percent of the work associated with calls for prescriptions and almost 80 percent of the paper billing.

Community spirit thriving at CompSource
CompSource employees give of their time, money and much more to help the community. Favorite charities include the United Way State Charitable Campaign, Regional Food Bank, Operation Elf and The Oklahoma Blood Institute. In 2008, CompSource employees donated 7,951 pounds of food to the food bank, surpassing a goal of collecting 7,500 pounds.

Ontario

Young Worker Safety

Experience Rating under review
Experience Rating is a cost-based incentive program intended to promote good health and safety practices. In this program, employers receive rebates or surcharges according to their performance and based on claim costs.
As a part of an ongoing review of its Experience Rating program, the WSIB has taken a number of steps to lay the groundwork for long-term system improvements. These program changes include:

• The Fatal Claim Premium Adjustment policy, which allows the WSIB to apply a premium increase to an employer that experiences a work-related traumatic fatality
• A new validation unit that will review workplaces to help strengthen the link between experience rating rebates and real performance in health and safety
• A third-party expert has been engaged to lead a thorough review of the Experience Rating program
• And a Special Advisory Committee of the Board of Directors has been established to oversee the Experience Rating review.

The WSIB is working to improve the Experience Rating program so that it is fairer and provides direct incentives to improve the health and safety, prevention and return to work programs that will get us to the goal of zero injuries, illnesses and fatalities.

Oregon


Workplace safety program yields over $12 million in savings
Construction industry businesses participating in the workers' compensation program offered by SAIF Corporation in partnership with Associated General Contractors (AGC) received a $12.3 million return on their 2006-07 insurance premiums, the largest in the plan's 18-year history.

Companies enrolled in the AGC/SAIF Workers' Compensation Program for the 2006-07 plan year earned an estimated total cost savings of over 52 percent. The figure includes all of the elements of the AGC/SAIF program, including up-front discounts, individual account electives, and the retrospective rating returns.

In total, more than $13.3 million – nearly one-third of the total premium paid – was returned to participating members. The total includes a $12.3 million retrospective rating return, medical reimbursements, and the credit resulting from Department of Consumer and Business Services assessments. The return was distributed in August to 714 participating members.

Agriculture seminar series returns
SAIF is once again offering free safety training to agriculture employers and workers through a series of seminars to be held around Oregon. Twenty-four seminars are scheduled in 16 cities from fall 2008 through spring 2009. Four will be presented entirely in Spanish. This is the fourteenth year that SAIF has provided this series of trainings.

Environmental sustainability initiative adopted
SAIF’s board of directors adopted a corporate environmental sustainability initiative that requires SAIF in 2008 to raise awareness of today's generally-accepted business and government practices to protect the environment, and develop programs to enhance SAIF's current sustainability practices.

There are three tactical elements of this initiative: (1) Seek to understand the potential effect of climate change on our customers' business operations; (2) Develop a strategy to become a more environmentally-conscious purchaser; and (3) Develop a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by our business activities.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's State Workers' Insurance Fund (SWIF) is embarking on a major organizational transformation effort. After successfully implementing a new operating system and related infrastructure, SWIF leadership is taking advantage of this opportunity to look at the organization's environment in an effort to enhance the culture within SWIF.

As the first piece of this cultural transformation, all managers and supervisors, regardless of tenure or status, are attending "Essential Principles of Supervision", a course which has been customized for SWIF by the Department of Labor and Industry's Human Resources office. A process improvement course that will provide principles and steps to plan and redesign operations is being offered to all SWIF staff, in an effort to encourage innovation and increased efficiencies. A pilot cultural assessment and support session was conducted in one of the 8 district offices. This session was designed to engage staff to discuss cultural and work environment issues toward better communications and increased efficiencies. SWIF management and the Bureau of Human Resources jointly participated in this session. This pilot will be expanded and conducted at all SWIF offices, with the intent to develop performance standards and further, that each office will develop workable action plans in support of SWIF's goals. This will provide SWIF with a systemic approach to continuous improvement and quality enhancement.

Other supporting initiatives that are being planned include an improved new employee orientation and a foundational curriculum that will provide participants the knowledge that they need to understand the organization and how each of them supports the mission and vision of SWIF. This curriculum will be designed in an effort to break down silos and to increase integration of work units and staff. These are just a few of the exciting organizational and transformational things happening at SWIF in Pennsylvania.

Saskatchewan

Mission: Zero, the new focus of the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board’s social marketing campaign, is finding its audience.

Launched in May of this year, the campaign is edgier than its predecessors, with strong visuals and soundtracks that bring the viewer to the moment of injury and the heightened emotions immediately afterwards.

Market research shows that while the campaign ran only for six weeks, it had an impact:

• Total awareness of the program and brand was at 32.8 per cent of respondents. This compares favourably to audience awareness at the one-year mark of the WorkSafe Saskatchewan campaign (introduced by Saskatchewan in 2003).
• More than 49 per cent of respondents recognized Mission: Zero’s message – Even one injury is too many.
• More than 60 per cent could recall Mission: Zero’s visual images.
• When asked to rate the importance of the Mission: Zero campaign, respondents gave the campaign a mean of 3.67 out of 5 in terms of personal importance and 3.89 in terms of importance to their workplace.

The most important metric for the Saskatchewan WCB is the impact the campaign has on attitudes and workplace behaviour. Over 22 per cent of respondents indicated they had changed their work behaviour because of the Mission: Zero campaign. This compares to just over 25 per cent attributing a behaviour change to the more mature WorkSafe Saskatchewan campaign.

The market research survey is conducted by telephone and randomly samples Saskatchewan residents aged 18 or older. Starting in the Fall of 2008, the survey will add a question that asks respondents to rate their agreement with the statement, “Workplace injuries are an inevitable part of life”. The WCB will track responses over time as another way to monitor the impact of Mission: Zero’s core message that workplace injuries are predictable and preventable.

Texas

Texas Mutual pays $150M in policyholder dividends
In July, Texas Mutual began distributing $150 million in dividends to policyholders who have favorable loss ratios. The company has distributed more than $595 million in dividends since 1999.

Governor appoints new board chair
Governor Rick Perry has appointed Bob Barnes chair of the Texas Mutual board of directors. Barnes, a long-time Texas Mutual policyholder, joined the board in 2007. He replaces Richard Cooper, who will remain a board member.

New purchasing group accommodates lodging industry
Texas Mutual Insurance Company has partnered with Hilb, Rogal and Hobbs (HRH) to offer a workers’ compensation purchasing group for the lodging industry. Members of the Texas Lodging Group (TLG) get a premium discount, an industry-specific safety plan and potential dividends if they control their losses. Texas Mutual offers 27 purchasing groups representing a range of industries, including oil and gas, food service and construction.

State to release network report card
The Texas Department of Insurance Research and Evaluation Group is scheduled to release its second workers’ compensation health care network report card in September. The report card will assess health care networks on cost and quality of medical care. Texas Mutual designed its network to help injured workers get quality care and return to the job as soon as medically reasonable.

West Virginia

Brickstreet Mutual Insurance, the largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance coverage in West Virginia generated a total business volume impact in excess of $560 million that supported 3,500 jobs and $115 million in employee compensation during calendar year 2007 according to a recent study conducted by West Virginia University.

The economic impact included BrickStreet’s direct spending for its operations, expenditures with suppliers and wages and salaries paid to employees, the increased economic activity that occurs from claims payments, as well as construction spending.