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Home » Archives for November 2014

Archives for November 2014

NWCDC Temp Nation – California AB 1897

November 26, 2014 By JL Risk Management Consultants

California AB 1897 Changes The Temporary Employee – Employer Relationship

The upcoming effects of California AB 1897 caught me slightly by surprise.  Many states had discussed laws that reinforced the ladder of insurance.   This new statute addressed it directly.

Picture of Judge California AB 1897 NWCDC

StockUnlimited

I tried to blog live on many of the sessions at the NWCDC in Las Vegas last week.  However, internet connectivity, power plugs, etc. made it a little tough in a few instances.  I wrote this session out by hand.    It was one of the most important ones for employers, especially California employers.

Many states are passing laws currently that make temporary agencies and client-employers equally responsible for providing Workers Compensation benefits for an injured employee.   These types of laws will quickly erode the hallmark of the temporary agency being the responsible party for their workers’ benefits resulting from a WC accident.

As I have pointed out very often in this blog, California will usually be the first state at enacting rules and laws that will be coming to your state(s) very soon.

California AB 1897 seems to be one of the first of its kind.   California AB 1897 does not let the employer off the hook for Workers Compensation benefits for temporary employees that were hired through an agency.

Businessman Pointing California AB 1897 Employee Interview

StockUnlimited

Some of the important aspects of the new law are:

  • Effective January 1st, 2015
  • One of the exceptions were key employees such as executive temps.
  • Temporary agency,  PEO, or leasing employer cannot be self insured
  • All parties are equally responsible for employee safety
  • Some of the exclusions are:
    • Small business  – 25 or less employees
    • Business facility with 5 or less temporary workers
    • Local government

The presenters, who I will add into this article or add in a completely different article, recommended that the temporary agency contracts need to be reviewed very extensively as to the responsible party for WC benefits for an injured temporary worker.

This was one of the sessions that should have been given some attention with the advent of co-responsibility between employer and temp agency.   You may want to check the upcoming employment law changes in your state as the presenters had acknowledged other states were considering similar law changes to California AB 1897.

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

 

 

 

Filed Under: AB 1897, California Tagged With: acknowledged, temp nation

Ethics in Workers Compensation – Blogging Live – NWCDC

November 20, 2014 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Blogging live – Ethics in Workers Compensation

Ethics in Workers Compensation is still very important.   This presentation covered ethics in claims handling very thoroughly.   Many states now require adjusters to have three hours of ethics at time of license renewal.  I think  the ethics component should be even larger with some of the events I have seen in my WC career.

 

Cloud Ethics in Workers Compensation concept

Wikimedia Commons – Teodoraturovic

Ethics for HR Specialists,  Risk Managers & Claims Adjusters

Presenter -Eugene F. Keefe, Esquire

From Merriam‐Webster, Ethics is defined as:

• A discipline dealing with what is good and bad along with moral duty and obligation
• A set of moral principles; a theory or system of moral values
• The principles of conduct governing an individual or a group
• A guiding philosophy
• A consciousness of moral importance

No Side Deals or Dealings
• Managers and Claims Adjusters must not pay, offer to pay or agree to pay any remuneration, compensation or benefit to a person who is not a valid and legitimate representative of any party in your claim, except where permitted by law
• Always seek initial proof of standing to represent – until you have it, no dealings other than to seek needed  documentation
• You may have to report someone who is not being forthcoming about their status

Takeaways Discussions Today

Two Businessman Ethics in Workers Compensation Meeting At Cafe

123RF

• When Do You Start or Stop the Money Pump in Claims?
• Handling Claims Ethically is Good for You, Your Employer, Your Vendors
and Your Accounts
• No Side Deals or Dealings
• Your Files are Being Constantly Monitored—Be the First to Report any Anomaly
• Concerns in Dealing with Family and Friends of Claimant in Non‐Litigated Claims
• How Do You Insure Someone Contacting You is An Attorney?
• What If a Lawyer Starts to Act Unlike a Lawyer to You?
• What if a Plaintiff Lawyer suggests an Expert to handle a claim issue?
• Avoid Conflicts of Interest
• Always Tell the Truth‐‐Never, Ever Lie
• Keep Your Claims to Yourself, Client and Company
• Avoid Bad Faith

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: ethics Tagged With: HR specialist, risk, side deals

Using This Blog For Your Own Purposes, Mobi Site, Weekly Newsletter

November 20, 2014 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Using This Blog + Mobi Site + Newsletter

Mobi Site, Weekly Newsletter, and using these articles for your own purposes were a few housekeeping items that need to be covered now. 

Vector Of Email Mobi Site Icon

StockUnlimited

There are almost 1,400 articles on this blog covering everything concerning Workers Comp savings for premium payers and self-Insureds.    Feel free to reference this site in any of your presentations or whitepapers.   All that I ask is a backlink back to the article.     Cutting and pasting any part of an article is OK with me as long as you offer a backlink to the article or the main page of the blog.

If you use the article for a whitepaper, please reference the blog.

One thing to remember is that the articles are from 2007 and forward.   There may be a newer article than the one that you are reading.   Please use the search box at the top right of the page to search for articles.

While at the search box, sign up for the weekly newsletter so that you do not to come back to the blog for new articles every week.   I usually try to write three new articles per week and add in a few classics which are very popular according to web traffic.

Cupped Hands Mobi Site With Social Media Icon

StockUnlimited

Feel very free to print out the articles and read them at your leisure.  The blog is starting to pick up quite a large following of smartphone users.   We are in the process of adding in a .mobi site that will make accessing the articles a little easier.

We just finished converting the blog to WordPress.   WordPress does make the task of blogging a little easier.   Adding in tags has also been great for readers that are searching for articles.

I just used a piece of software to see if the blog had any misspellings, double words, etc.   There are a few that need correcting overall.   The corrections will happen over the next few weeks.   I was a little surprised at misspellings as all articles are first written in Microsoft Word and then uploaded to the blog.

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: backlink, Cutting and pasting, mobi site

Workers Comp Conference Searching For Innovation In Las Vegas

November 18, 2014 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Las Vegas Workers Comp Conference – Innovation

The largest Workers Comp conference occurs this week in Las Vegas.  The conference covers both  national and regional issues.  The proceedings start tomorrow with the keynote speaker tomorrow through November 21st.   I will try to blog live some of the conference live if possible.

Picture Of Workers Comp Conference Room

Wikimedia Commons – Fuzheado

If any of the blog or newsletter readers would like to hear more about one of the sessions, let me know.  I am quite flexible in my schedule other than meeting with a few attendees and vendors on November 20th.    I do not like to follow one track.   The tracks can be seen on the NWCDC website and on one of Cutcompcosts.com’s earlier blogs. 

The main area I am searching for is the existence of innovation in WC.  What sessions or vendor booths contain innovation will likely be a topic for many years to come.  Workers Comp severely lacks innovation when compared to other lines of insurance.  

Comparatively, workers comp lags behind even health insurance in innovations.  Some of the innovators at the NWCDC started with the health insurance markets. Workers Compensation would then become a sideline business for any of the vendors. 

I am actually flying into San Diego, meeting with a client, and then driving from there to Las Vegas.   The desert drive is not one to which I look forward except for the ghost towns along the way.  Typing this info into a laptop at 35,000 feet is not that great.

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: Las Vegas, NWCDC Tagged With: innovations, vendor

Medical Marijuana Basis For Discrimination Lawsuit

November 12, 2014 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Medical Marijuana Basis For Lawsuit

Medical Marijuana is now a  basis for a discrimination lawsuit.  New Mexico issued a very bad ruling last year that required an employer in the state to pay for a claimant’s marijuana prescription.  This broke through an important barrier where marijuana is accepted as a prescription by the Workers Compensation community.

Picture Of Medical Marijuana Leaves

Wikimedia Commons – United States Fish and Wildlife Service

One had to wonder how long before someone alleges hiring discrimination due to the use of medical marijuana.  Actually, lawsuits have been previously filed in other states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana.

The two differences with this legal action are the state is Rhode Island and the job applicant was a graduate student pursuing an internship.

According to ABC News, a textile company had refused to hire a graduate student for a two-month internship because she uses medical marijuana to treat frequent and debilitating migraine headaches, a decision her lawyer calls discrimination.

The applicant admitted to the textile company’s human resources department that she had a medical marijuana license.  No drug test was ever administered.   The company decided not to offer the internship specifically due to the marijuana issue.

The textile company may have been better served by using another reason to not allow the graduate student to begin her internship.

Medical marijuana will be a popular topic with Workers Compensation over the next few years as more states legalize its use.  It is still considered a controlled substance by the Feds.   Marijuana is still a Schedule I drug as listed by the FDA.  

2020 Update on Medical Marijuana 

Recreational marijuana legalization will likely create more instances of lawsuits due to discrimination for terminating an employee who has tested positive for THC.    THC stays in a person’s system for up to two weeks.  THC is a highly-fat soluble chemical that stores in fat cells for weeks if not months.   

The recreational marijuana enforcement by employers may be worse than the “old days” of being concerned with only medical marijuana. 

 

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: marijuana Tagged With: ABC news, Feds, Rhode Island

No Fee Schedules Cost Employers WC $ – Virginia Update

November 12, 2014 By JL Risk Management Consultants

No Fee Schedules Cost Employers $$$

The lack of Fee Schedules cost employers dearly in extra workers compensation premiums. 

Dollar Cash Fee Schedules Cost Employers Picture

StockUnlimited

After looking at the chart again from yesterday’s article on WCRI’s 16 state report on medical costs, there is an obvious trend that is very apparent on Workers Compensation medical costs.

The chart points out an obvious fact that has appeared in this blog many times.  Fee schedules do save employers Workers Comp premiums or direct payout for self-insureds.

One can look at the chart for just a few seconds and the fact becomes apparent – states should enact fee schedules if one does not exist.

From the chart, four of the top five in hospital costs do not have fee schedules for hospitals.  There is nothing like a chart to point out something which is beyond obvious.

The states- Iowa, Indiana, Virginia, and Wisconsin have higher hospitalization and overall medical costs.  Employers in these states are sometimes in networks provided by their carrier or TPA.   PPO reductions by the medical networks may be the saving grace for employers in these states.

Update – In 2017, Virginia added a fee schedule to their Workers Compensation rules. 

Hand Drawing Fee Schedules Cost Employers Upward Arrow With Dollar

StockUnlimited

Hospitals and other medical providers in states that have enacted fee schedules are doing well in such states as Tennessee and Texas.

North Carolina is in a hybrid situation as the state did enact a fee schedule of sorts for hospitals.  The state also has had a fee schedule in place for many years.

One would expect the non-fee schedule states to at least attempt to legislate some type of fee schedule in the coming months.   However I said the same thing in 2007.

For more information  please click on the links to see previously written articles on fee schedules.  The lack of fee schedules cost employers every time they renew a WC policy.

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

 

Filed Under: fee schedule Tagged With: higher hospitalization, very apparent

Private and Public Employers– Pending Unit Stat Date

November 6, 2014 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Upcoming Important Date – Pending Unit Stat Date  

The pending Unit Stat Date creates a deadline that private and public employers should mark on their calendars. 

A large percentage of private employers and  most public entities renew on July 1st. In most policies, the Experience Modification Factor, better known as E-Mod or X-mod, is usually calculated six months before policy inception.

Vector Graphic Of Two Employers Pending Unit Stat Date Shaking Hands

StockUnlimited

This date is known as your Unit Statistical Date or Unit Stat Date.  

The Unit Stat date for the aforementioned employers is January 1, 2015.  

The Total Incurred figures applicable to your  July 1st, 2015 policy will peg on New Years Day, 2015.

I may not necessarily agree with this structure, but it is the system we have to work with to have WC policies.   As Charles Givens said in Super Self, “If you want to win in their ballpark, you have to play by their rules.”

Your company or public entity has seven weeks to correct any reserves on your applicable  outstanding Workers Comp files.   As mentioned often in this blog,  Total Incurred = Paid + Outstanding Reserves.

The Total Incurred figure is used as one of the main inputs to your E-Mod calculation.  Having online access to your claims and loss runs is critical in this process.

Picture Of Man Upcoming Important Date Calculating

StockUnlimited

If you have your company’s loss runs and want to begin a loss run analysis, unfortunately there is no one guide on how to accomplish that task.   Each WC file is to its own.  There is no Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, etc. method.

Calling attention to certain files on your loss runs may actually end up increasing your E-Mod.  I have attempted to write a one-size-fits-all loss run analysis guide.  I have read a few other guides that fall flat.

The best advice that I can give is to look for the outliers or the claims that are obviously over-reserved or have some other attribute that stands out upon a loss run analysis and review.

The main idea is to at least begin your analysis but tread very lightly.  A large % of employers do not even obtain their loss runs and look over them.

If you have to request a paper loss run, you should do that today if your policy renewal is July 1st.  In fact, even if it is not on July 1st, the employers that pay attention to their loss runs seem to have lower E-Mods than companies that do nothing with their loss runs.

There are numerous articles on X-Mod or E-Mod reductions and loss run analysis.  Use the search box to find them in the 1400 articles on this blog.

Some of the terms in this article are highlighted that will take you to some of the articles.   Feel free to print out any of the articles or reference them in your own articles with a backlink.

Go ahead and mark the pending Unit State Date on your calendars if you are a public employer. 

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: unit stat date Tagged With: ARD, ballpark, one-size-fits-all

Blogger To WordPress Conversion A Complicated Mess

November 5, 2014 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Switched Blog From Blogger To WordPressSwitched Blog From Blogger To WordPress

We are back up and running after we switched from Blogger to WordPress. The process was similar to a tooth that you know needs to be taken care of by the dentist. In March 2013, we switched to a WordPress-based website. The old blog site was left behind as a standalone at blogs.cutcompcosts.com.

Ironically, I could not even send out a message that the blog and newsletter were going to be out of service for a few days that actually turned into a week.

The above emoticon looks like me at 2 AM trying to get the new part of the website to work properly.   This was a huge task that I thought would be very easy.  We hired a consultant company to move everything using an app they had to convert everything.  The app worked.  The results were rather scrambled.  

There may be a few kinks as we finalize the relocation. If you find any problems, please email us so that we can fix them promptly. The WordPress interface is far superior. Blogger did serve our posts well for over four years.

There is much work to be done to get the new blog into shape. I am rolling up the proverbial shirt sleeves and getting down to it over the next few days.

One of the reasons we switched was Panda/Penguin penalties due to repetitive meta descriptions and titles. Thanks for your understanding and Let’s Get Back To Saving Workers Comp $$$.

We will miss our old platform as it worked well for quite a few years.   

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: Cutcompcosts Tagged With: scrambled, WordPress

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About Me

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James J Moore
Raleigh, NC, United States

James founded a Workers’ Compensation consulting firm, J&L Risk Mgmt Consultants, Inc. in 1996. J&L’s mission is to reduce our clients’ Workers Compensation premiums by using time-tested techniques. J&L’s claims, premium, reserve and Experience Mod reviews have saved employers over $9.8 million in earned premiums over the last three years. J&L has saved numerous companies from bankruptcy proceedings as a result of insurance overpayments.

James has over 27 years of experience in insurance claims, audit, and underwriting, specializing in Workers’ Compensation. He has supervised, and managed the administration of Workers’ Compensation claims, and underwriting in over 45 states. His professional experience includes being the Director of Risk Management for the North Carolina School Boards Association. He created a very successful Workers’ Compensation Injury Rehabilitation Unit for school personnel.

James’s educational background, which centered on computer technology, culminated in earning a Masters of Business Administration (MBA); an Associate in Claims designation (AIC); and an Associate in Risk Management designation (ARM). He is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and a licensed financial advisor. The NC Department of Insurance has certified him as an insurance instructor. He also possesses a Bachelors’ Degree in Actuarial Science.

LexisNexis has twice recognized his blog as one of the Top 25 Blogs on Workers’ Compensation. J&L has been listed in AM Best’s Preferred Providers Directory for Insurance Experts – Workers Compensation for over eight years. He recently won the prestigious Baucom Shine Lifetime Achievement Award for his volunteer contributions to the area of risk management and safety. James was recently named as an instructor for the prestigious Insurance Academy.

James is on the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the North Carolina Mid-State Safety Council. He has published two manuals on Workers’ Compensation and three different claims processing manuals. He has also written and has been quoted in numerous articles on reducing Workers’ Compensation costs for public and private employers. James publishes a weekly newsletter with 7,000 readers.

He currently possess press credentials and am invited to various national Workers Compensation conferences as a reporter.

James’s articles or interviews on Workers’ Compensation have appeared in the following publications or websites:
• Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS)
• Entrepreneur Magazine
• Bloomberg Business News
• WorkCompCentral.com
• Claims Magazine
• Risk & Insurance Magazine
• Insurance Journal
• Workers Compensation.com
• LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites
• Various trade publications

 

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