AASCIF Among Top 200
Best’s Review recently listed the top 200 Property/Casualty Insurers
based on net premiums written in 2001.
AASCIF members in the list, in alphabetical order, include:
Arizona State Compensation Fund (#145)
Injured Workers Insurance Fund of Maryland (#171)
SAIF Corporation of Oregon (#143)
State Compensation Insurance Fund of California (#21)
Texas Mutual Insurance Company (#97)
Workers’ Compensation Fund Group of Utah (#174)
Ward’s Cites 2 From AASCIF
The Ward’s Group, a Cincinnati-based management consulting firm
specializing in the insurance industry, recently included the Louisiana
Workers’ Compensation Corporation and Maine Employers Mutual
Insurance in its 2002 Ward’s 50 Benchmark Group. The list includes
the top 50 among the companies analyzed; they passed all safety and consistency
screens and have achieved superior performance for five years from 1997
through 2001.
Lawyer’s Mouth Washed Out
Illustrating that Justice eventually prevails in the courtroom, a
foul-mouthed workers’ comp attorney finally got his comeuppance recently.
A review board in Illinois recommended suspending him for 30 days, according
to the Chicago Tribune. The recommendation was to be reviewed by
the state Supreme Court.
The attorney would often refer to female opposing attorneys as “sweetie
pie,” “baby cakes” or “Mother Superior,” and
would call male attorneys
and company officials “idiot” or “boy.” In one case,
when a claims adjuster had sent him a letter with which he disagreed,
he tore the letter up into tiny pieces and mailed them back with the suggestion
that the adjuster either eat them or “gently place them in that bodily
orifice into which no sun shines and try not to get any paper cuts.”
The same attorney was reprimanded in 1991 for abusive language.
Illinois attorneys’ rules of ethics are designed to discourage behavior
that is so obnoxious or intimidating that opponents will throw in the
towel rather than suffer more abuse, said an official of the Attorney
Registration and Disciplinary Commission. “No one suggests that the
ethics code is a substitute for Emily Post, but there are limits,”
the official said. “You don’t use means that have no other purpose
but to embarrass or burden a third person.”
Bad Vibes A Disability?
The Washington Post reported that some of the nation’s top
psychiatrists
are suggesting that personality clashes could qualify as a new category
of
mental illness, thus gaining insurance coverage for treatment. The doctors
recommend creating a new category called relational disorders to be added
to the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the profession’s
guide for defining mental illnesses.
The paper described this movement as a “profound conceptual shift”
under which an individual might be healthy except when it comes to
certain relationships. Initially, the new category would apply only to
family
relationships such as couples who constantly quarrel or children who
clash with their parents. Creating the new category would encourage
systematic study, drug trials and insurance coverage, according to the
Post.
Booze Bad for Bus Drivers
The more alcohol that a transit worker drinks – even away from the
job –
the more likely is the employee to suffer a workplace injury, according
to a
study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley.
In examining 1,836 employees of San Francisco’s municipal transit
system
over a five-year period, the researchers found that workers who had 10
or
more drinks per week were more likely to file workers’ compensation
claims. The study said that consumption of alcohol contributed to 3
percent of workplace injuries, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Human resources professionals emphasize that wellness programs and
referrals for counseling can help curb substance abuse and thus might
help prevent workplace injuries. But others caution against too much
intrusion into employees’ personal affairs off the job.
Fire Pilots’ Kin Seek Benefits
The families of air tanker pilots and crewmembers killed in crashes while
fighting recent wildfires have asked the federal government to award them
the same benefits given for firefighters and police officers killed on
duty, according to the Denver Post.
Under the federal Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program, established
in
1976, victims’ survivors are eligible for an inflation-adjusted $259,000
one-time cash award, and may also receive tax credits and tuition benefits
for their children. Members of the Associated Airtanker Pilots are lobbying
Congress to have pilots and crews included in the program.
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