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Arizona
Deterring on-the-job drug and alcohol use among employees was dealt a blow as a result of an Arizona Supreme Court decision related to workers’ compensation insurance.
"Unfortunately, the ruling deprives Arizona businesses of an important tool in combating alcohol and illegal drug use in the workplace,“ says Donald A. Smith Jr., president & CEO of SCF.
The Arizona Supreme Court's decision strikes down the workers' compensation drug and alcohol statutes as violating the Arizona Constitution. Under these statutes, employees injured on-the-job were not entitled to workers' compensation benefits if they tested positive for alcohol intoxication or illegal drugs and could not prove that the alcohol or drug use did not contribute to the accident and injury.
“Arizona employers must have the right and ability, as do employers in most other states, to limit the risks posed by impaired employees in the workplace,” Smith says. “Safety has to include a standard that says whether you’re buying, selling or working, you’re protected from workers who are under the influence of alcohol and drugs.”
SCF attorneys sought to clarify conflicting Arizona Court of Appeals’ rulings and to argue the petitioner’s injuries are not compensable when injured workers test positive for alcohol or drugs. “As the leading proponent of workplace safety in the state, we invested time and resources to argue this case because denial of benefits to drug and alcohol users not only helps prevent accidents and injuries on the job, but serves as a deterrent to workplace intoxication as well,” Smith explains.
To help promote workplace safety, SCF rewards policyholders that have certified drug/alcohol testing programs by providing a 5 percent premium credit. More than 5,000 Arizona businesses currently participate in the program, saving employers more than $5 million in premium costs. The ruling is likely to jeopardize that premium credit.
Colorado
On July 28, Pinnacol Assurance’s board of directors named Kenneth J. Ross of the New York State Insurance Fund as the company’s new president and CEO. Ross assumed his new role on September 19, succeeding Gary Pon, who announced his retirement in June after 20 years as Pinnacol’s chief executive.
Pinnacol Assurance has joined with key members of the Hispanic business community to launch Un Colorado seguro, an awareness and educational campaign focused on the safety of Colorado’s Spanish-speaking workers. The campaign will help Anglo employers overcome language and cultural barriers in communicating with their Spanish-speaking employees, and provide Spanish-speaking business owners with Spanish safety materials.
To provide educational opportunities for students whose parents have been seriously injured or killed on the job, the Pinnacol Foundation awarded $95,000 in college scholarships to 32 Colorado students in July 2005. Pinnacol Assurance established the Foundation in 2000.
Kentucky
Tom Weir, premium fraud investigator for KEMI, was recognized by the United States Postal Inspection Service for his participation during an investigation and trial of one of KEMI’s former policyholders accused of mail fraud and money laundering.
Weir worked closely with the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Office of the United States Attorney (Eastern District of Kentucky) to prove the defendant had engaged in a scheme to defraud workers’ compensation companies out of over $6 million in premiums.
Weir was commended for his knowledge and experience, which helped lead to the conviction of the largest premium fraud indictment in Kentucky history.
Maine
For the fourth consecutive year, Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC) has been named a member of the property/casualty group of Ward's 50 Benchmark Group. This listing is result of the analysis of Ward Group, a respected insurance consulting firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ward Group analyzes 2,900 property/casualty companies for financial results in the areas of safety, consistency and performance over a five-year period. The top 50 are published, putting them, according Ward Groups analysis, among the top two percent of property/casualty insurers.
The 2005 Ward 50 listing is the result of analysis of the years 2000 to 2004. The entire listing was to be published in the August 22 issue of National Underwriter magazine. MEMIC has made the list in each of the last four years.
In June, the company also learned that its 'A' (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best had been reaffirmed.
Subsidiary Gains Licenses
MEMIC subsidiary, MEMIC Indemnity Company, has recently earned licenses in two more states. Since June, MEMIC Indemnity has been admitted to New Jersey and Maryland. That gives the company, which is celebrating its 5th anniversary, nine states including New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and the two new states.
Manitoba
Service Milestone
WCB Manitoba achieved a service milestone in the second quarter of 2005 when injured workers indicated an overall satisfaction rating of 8.0. The WCB’s corporate goal is to attain a satisfaction rating of 8.0 out of 10 in the quarterly satisfaction survey of injured workers.
Legislative Amendments
A number of changes to the Act governing workers' compensation will be implemented in 2006, following the first extensive public consultation in almost twenty years. A major change will be the expansion of coverage. In Manitoba, about 70 percent of the workforce is currently covered by workers’ compensation. The revised Act allows for expansion of coverage, subsequent to further consultation with employers and workers. Other changes include enhancements to benefits for injured workers, such as the removal of the cap on insured earnings, the removal of a 10 percent reduction in benefits after two years, a reduction based on age, a revision to the calculation of permanent impairment awards, and improved benefits to survivors in the case of a workplace fatality. Employers will be required to pay injured workers full wages and benefits for the day of the injury and re-employ injured workers under certain circumstances. In addition, there are a number of changes that will impact governance activities and the structure of the Board of Directors.
SAFE Work prevention program
Manitoba SAFE Work public awareness program continues its multi media campaign. The 2005 SAFE Work positioning statement is “Work Shouldn’t Hurt”. Communication activities will include 4 television campaigns throughout 2005. Stakeholders are partnering in awareness initiatives under the SAFE Work branding umbrella. Results of the program are encouraging:
- More than 8 of 10 Manitobans are aware of the SAFE program
- More then 7 out of 10 Manitobans are less likely to take risks at work
- More than 9 out of 10 support SAFE Work advertising
- The time loss injury rate has declined 21% since 2000
Minnesota
Minnesota State Fund Mutual Companies has begun using CorVel Corporation’s PPO to expand its approaches to medical cost control. The PPO gives policyholders the opportunity to use medical providers that produce better return-to-work outcomes and at discounted prices. About 40 percent of SFM’s current medical billings come from providers that already participate in the PPO. SFM hopes to expand that percentage by encouraging more policyholders to switch to PPO providers and by working with CorVel to bring into the PPO network more good providers who are willing to negotiate price discounts. In Minnesota, injured employees can be encouraged but not required to use network providers.
The hiring of Mike Happe as vice president of Business Development and Marketing establishes a new executive-level position that will enhance SFM’s ability to grow profitably, particularly in expanding relationships with agencies. Happe comes to SFM from his position as a regional executive with Harleysville (Pa.) Insurance Co. and from earlier positions at The St. Paul Companies and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).
Missouri
Missouri Employers Mutual Joins Trusted Choice
Missouri Employers Mutual has joined a growing number of leading carriers that are participating in the Trusted Choice® brand movement—the national consumer brand campaign created to educate consumers about the benefits of using independent insurance agents and brokers.
MEM became the 30th Trusted Choice company partner in July as a way to show support for and commitment to the independent agency system.
The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) and several independent agency companies launched the Trusted Choice movement in 2001 to highlight the benefits independent agencies and brokerage firms offer consumers—choice of companies, customization of policies and advocacy support.
More than 5,000 independent insurance agencies and brokerage firms throughout the country are participating in the branding program, along with 30 leading insurance companies.
North Dakota
In July, Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI) launched a pilot program in a three-county region for injured workers to receive a free medication check-up with the pharmacist of their choice. Injured workers were sent a small brown bag with instructions and an invitation to put all their medications, vitamins, herbs or supplements into the brown bag and make an appointment with a pharmacist. The cost of the review was fully paid for by WSI.
Drug interactions are a serious health concern. The New York School of Pharmacy notes that patients who take at least six drugs a day have an 80% chance of experiencing a negative interaction. Even more alarming, about 7,000 people die from medication errors in the US each year….16% more deaths than occur from work-related injuries!
Often times in workers’ compensation, the treating physician for the injured worker is not the family doctor. Therefore, unless workers have specifically advised their treating doctor of all the medications and supplements they are taking, they may not be aware of the interactions that can take place.
At the medication review, the pharmacist completed a drug interaction questionnaire that was given back to the injured worker. If it was felt there was any potential risk for a drug interaction, the pharmacist advised the injured worker to share the questionnaire with their workers’ compensation treating doctor and any other necessary physicians.
The pilot program was deemed a success and is now in the process of being rolled out statewide.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma lawmakers hammered out Senate Bill 1X, a workers’ compensation reform package, which is being touted as possibly the best reform package seen in Oklahoma in years. The reform addresses a list of issues including new definitions of work-related and soft tissue injuries, medical fees, choice of doctors and attorney fees. Following passage of SB1X, the National Council on Compensation Insurance filed for a 10.5 percent decrease in Oklahoma loss costs rates, which was accepted by Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland. The reform is predicted to reduce workers’ compensation cost to Oklahoma businesses by $35 million.
Oregon
On June 27, Brenda JP Rocklin was named as president and CEO by the board of directors. She had been appointed on an interim basis by the governor and the board in August, 2004 to bring increased emphasis on ethics and accountability to the corporation.
SAIF recently selected a new agency of record to lead a brand revitalization project. ID Branding is a national branding agency located in Portland, Oregon. Clients range from TriMet, Portland’s award-winning public transit agency, to Kodak, Microsoft, and Nike.
SAIF’s business online tool continues to add functionality. A new feature being added this fall will allow policyholders to make premium payments online.
Now that the challenging events of the last twelve months are passed – when SAIF was the subject of a ballot initiative to dissolve the corporation and, after that, a tough legislative session – SAIF management is looking forward to increased participation in AASCIF. We will see you soon!
Saskatchewan
When the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom wanted to learn more about leading practices in market research and customer satisfaction surveys, it contacted Charles Vincent at the Institute for Citizen-Centered Service (ICCS) in Ontario, Canada.
And when Vincent looked for examples of best practice in the use of customer satisfaction surveys, he chose the Saskatchewan WCB and its survey program as a practice leader.
The WCB has been using the Common Measurements Tool (CMT) as its survey methodology for nearly two years. The CMT measures customer service expectations, determines levels of service satisfaction, and identifies priorities for service improvements. It was designed specifically for agencies, like the WCB. It uses standardized questions, data gathering and analysis, so that government agencies and departments can compare their results with similar organizations, identify best practices and share lessons learned.
The ICCS was set up by Canadian federal, provincial and municipal governments to advise and guide managers in the use of the CMT, and to provide quality assurance and quality control.
The WCB was an early adopter of the CMT and the first workers' compensation system in Canada to use the survey tool. With the CMT, the WCB has learned the degree of satisfaction clients have with service delivery, and how important to clients the different aspects of service delivery are – like timeliness, fairness, knowledge / competence, courtesy and outcome.
According to Graham Topp, the WCB’s Vice President of Operations, the CMT has helped to increase customer satisfaction while, at the same time, controlling costs – two strategic goals of the organization. By delving deeper into client requirements, the WCB can focus time and money on the issues that are most critical to its customers.
“The survey analysis is detailed, and allows us to review and then revise how we deliver service,” says Topp. “We know we are on target with service improvements, because our customers have told us what those targets should be. It keeps our plan on track.”
Being cited as a practice leader to the UK government is the latest recognition of the WCB’s leadership in use of the CMT. Recently, Topp co-presented with Vincent a session on the CMT and the WCB’s experience to a forum of public service managers organized by the Alberta government. In 2004, the WCB was invited to participate on a committee that recommended guidelines for benchmarking the CMT across agencies.
Vincent says there are several reasons for citing the WCB as a best practice leader.
“First, the WCB has a mature customer satisfaction measurement process, seeking constant feedback through quarterly surveys. And where many organizations simply ask customers about satisfaction at a very high level, the WCB uses their client survey to dig deeper and really understand what their clients want and need,” says Vincent. “Then, they use the information to affect positive change, ensuring the results do not sit on a shelf. And finally, I’m impressed with the way the WCB shares the results with staff at all levels so that service improvement becomes an organization wide responsibility.”
Topp says there are more benefits to gain from using the CMT. “We’ll continue to use and modify the CMT to clarify service expectations so that we can put our resources where they matter and achieve even greater results."
Texas
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is preparing for system-wide changes resulting from House Bill 7. The law brings major reforms to the Texas workers’ compensation law. Meanwhile, Texas Mutual continued its dividend programs, paying approximately $50 million of individual dividends to more than 31,000 policyholders in July and paying $1.9 million in group dividends, year-to-date through August.
On June 28, Texas Mutual held its annual policyholder meeting in Austin. The meeting provided policyholders with an opportunity to meet company leaders and discuss the latest developments in the workers' compensation system.
The website, texasmutual.com, benefited from additional enhancements this summer. Texas Mutual added a “How To” feature to its agent and policyholder online services, an online password reset function for all registered users, and stakeholder-specific information about House Bill 7.
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