Fixes For Extremely High E-Mod
Fixes for an Extremely High E-Mod are available if a company is patient. I received this question from a blog reader last week. Our E-Mod has been running over 1.4 since our company has been in existence. It is now in excess of 1.7. We are in our state’s assigned risk pool. The rates seem extremely high. What strategies would you suggest to decrease the Mod very quickly?

One of the quickest ways to reduce your E-Mod is by instituting or improving your safety programs. The claim that never happens will always be the best way to lower your E-Mod. With an E-Mod of 1.7, your company likely had repetitive injuries and not just a few high-dollar injuries.
As you are in a NCCI rated state, your company also likely experienced an E-Mod increase due to the E-Mod calculation changes.
The other techniques to reduce your E-Mod would be:
StockUnlimited Working with your carrier more closely – especially your claims adjuster. The adjuster that sets the reserves usually knows whether your company is using some of the following techniques. This can make a difference in your reserves.
- First Reports of Injury must be immediately filed with the carrier
- You must have a medical network 24/7/365 available for treatment. Many industrial-minded clinics operate in your area.
- You must have – and it looks like your company does not – a return to work program. Assessing your company’s limited duty jobs and having those on file with the aforementioned medical network will reduce your Mod.
- The way the employee is treated by your HR staff is important. The injured employee is still your employee. Treating them as such will help in all aspects of the WC claims.
- Get a copy of your loss run and analyze it very heavily. The loss runs are basically a map of how your company came to have a higher Mod. Do all of the figures look correct on your loss run?
- Online access to loss runs is priceless as you do not have to wait weeks before receiving one which is then dated by the time your receive the paper loss run.
StockUnlimited If your company is large enough, a plant nurse is one of the best ways to handle the smaller claims more efficiently and to cut the costs of larger claims. In case of a very serious accident, the plant nurse can be a literal life-saver. Almost all companies that have plant nurses have been very happy with their claims improvement.
- Alternative Workers Comp coverage may also be a solution. PEO’s, captives, self-insured groups are all possibilities The one caveat here is choosing the CORRECT alternative for your situation and the right company. Alternative WC coverage can be full of some unscrupulous companies.
This list of quick-fixes is not actually going to be fully seen until three or four years in the future. Workers Comp is a lagging-time system. A bad claims year or a set of great improvements may not show fully in your E-Mod for quite some time. Vigilance is also a key characteristic to companies that improve an extremely high E-Mod.
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