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More than 400 AASCIF members and guests attended AASCIF's 2004 annual conference. The conference was hosted Aug. 1-4 in Minneapolis by Minnesota State Fund Mutual Companies.
Themes for this year's conference included medical costs, ethical leadership, and economic trends. The presenters' PowerPoint slides are available on the AASCIF website www.AASCIF.com, in the Library section.
Here's a brief collection of quotes and thoughts from the presenters:
Garry Mathiason, of the national law firm Littler Mendelson: Workers' compensation is likely to be impacted significantly in the years ahead by four workforce megatrends: Growing diversity, looming skills shortages combined with an overall aging of the workforce, increased demand for contingent workers, and a continuing corporate emphasis on legal and ethical compliance.
Robert Hartwig, senior vice president and chief economist, Insurance Information Institute: "Workers' compensation went from profit juggernaut to balance sheet black hole in just four to five years. . . . Underwriting pressure remains, but is discipline disappearing? . . . Work comp loss ratios fell substantially during the mid 1990s but rose sharply in the late 1990s through 2001. Work comp has a long way to go before performance rivals that of the mid 1990s. . . . Emerging risks: In the past two decades, the percentage of adolescents who are overweight has tripled. The next generation of workers will be unhealthy, and it will affect work comp adversely."
Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic and author of "Authentic Leadership": "Speak your truth. Listen to your inner voice. Be genuine. Lead with your own style. Stick to your moral compass. Follow your heart. And leave a legacy. . . . The bottom line in leading an organization: Great leaders rally their organizations around a common purpose and a set of values that inspire employees and enable them to achieve results far beyond what they believed possible."
Michael Scandrett, of Halleland, Lewis, Nilan, Sipkins & Johnson: "Approximately 50 percent of patients receive recommended treatment processes. Quality varies, too." In a recent study of clinics, on average, one out of six diabetes patients received optimal diabetes care. Costs ran equally high for care at the lowerquality clinics. . . . The largest medical cost-savings opportunities lie with the 30 percent of people who account for chronic diseases, accidents and catastrophes, which average $10,000 in medical costs per person per year.
Andrew Block, Ph.D., The WellBeing Group, Plano, Texas. "Spine surgery is often ineffective in providing pain relief and functional improvement—even when the pathology is corrected." Psychological factors in the patient's environment and personality—such as anger, depression, low pain-coping skills, legal and vocational complications, childhood trauma and marital distress—are associated with failed back surgeries. Failure rates increase even more when psychological factors are combined with medical risk factors such as smoking and obesity. As much as 25 percent of patients may have psychological factors that negatively impact the outcomes of their back surgeries. Presurgery psychological screening shows promise in identifying patients whose back surgery outcomes would be improved when psychological treatment is performed in conjunction with the surgery.
And the winners this year are...
23 U.S. and Canadian funds submitted
125 entries in this year’s contest. Winners were announced Aug. 2 at the 2004 AASCIF annual conference in Minneapolis.
The AASCIF Communications Committee organized the contest. Judging was coordinated
by the West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs-Workers’
Compensation Division and performed by the West Virginia Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.
Best of Show
State Compensation Fund of Arizona
“AZ@Work”
External newsletters
External brochures
First Place
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
“Safe: It’s the Only Call”
Second Place
Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation
“LWCC Sales Brochure”
Third place
California State Compensation Insurance Fund
“State Fund’s HCO Plan”
External newsletters
First Place
State Compensation Fund of Arizona
“AZ@Work”
Second Place
Montana State Fund
“Perspectives”
Third Place
Injured
Workers’ Insurance Fund of Maryland
“With IWIF”
Internal newsletters
First Place
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
“Emania”
Second Place
Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance
“Team.Net”
Third Place
Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund of Maryland
“Forum Online”
Annual reports
First Place
Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund of Maryland
“Maryland’s Beacon of Safety & Trust”
Second Place
West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
“Returning to Fundamentals”
Third Place
Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance
“Here for You Today, Working for a Better Tomorrow”
Audiovisual productions
First Place
Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund of Maryland
“IWIF and the Dawn of Workers’ Compensation Insurance”
Second Place
Oregon SAIF Corporation
“Techniques for Flat Bed Truckers”
Third Place
British Columbia Workers’ Compensation Board
“The Supervisor”
Print Advertising campaigns
First Place
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
“Here for Texas”
Second Place
Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund of Maryland
“Safety Saves with IWIF: Policyholder Testimonial Campaign”
Third Place
California State Compensation Insurance Fund
“What’s One Without the Other: State
Fund and Farm Bureau Campaign”
Radio/TV advertising
First Place
Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund of Maryland
“Bill Ripkin radio campaign”
Second Place
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
“Here to Stay”
Third Place
Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance
“Work SAFE Week”
Excellence in writing
First Place
Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
“Saving a Life: All in a Day’s
Work for NCM”
Second Place
Oregon SAIF Corporation
“Safety Champions!”
Third Place
Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund of Maryland
“Behavior Based Safety: Changing the Workplace Safety Culture, One Attitude at a Time”
Internal communications campaigns
First Place
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
“United Way Campaign”
Second Place
Maine Employers’ Mutual
Insurance Company
“MEMIC’s 10th Anniversary”
Third Place
West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
“Logo and Mission Statement Selection
Process”
External communications campaigns
First Place
British Columbia Workers’ Compensation Board
“20th Anniversary of the Day of Mourning”
Second Place
State Compensation Fund of Arizona
“SCF Grassroots”
Third Place
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
“Here for Texas. Here to Stay”
Web sites
First Place
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
Second Place
Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
Third Place
CompSource Oklahoma
Information kits
First Place
Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company
“Employer Guide: Workers’ Compensation
Insurance”
Second Place
Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund of Maryland
“Employer’s Guide to Accident Management”
Third Place
State Compensation Insurance Fund, California
“Ergonomics: How May We Help
You?”
Open category
First Place
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
“Workshops for Agents and Employers”
Second Place
Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund of Maryland
“Safety Rules”
Third Place
CompSource Oklahoma
“Nobody Nose”
Award recipients representing their
funds and boards:
Front row: Isaac Szxmanczyk of Oregon, Keely Morgan of
Texas,
Steve Hardin of Oklahoma
Back row: Donna Wilson of Maryland,
Wendy Knorr of Missouri
Award recipients
representing their funds and boards:
Front row: Ron Christensen of
California, Laurence Hubbard of Montana, and Don Hale of Maine.
Back row: Terry Boygo of British Columbia, Robert Malooly of Washington, Don
Smith of Arizona, Robert Levy of Louisiana, Keely Morgan of Texas.
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