Archives for January 2017

Associate in Risk Management Designation (ARM) – Worth It?

January 25, 2017 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Work Comp Adjuster Question on Associate in Risk Management

picture of Associate in Risk Management Access Planning

Is the Associate in Risk Management designation worth the effort? I have my Associate in Claims (AIC) designation. Is the ARM the next step in career advancement?

The above question came in from a California adjuster after the two articles written on the AIC designation last week.

According to the Institutes, the ARM is designed to advance the education of:

Agents
Brokers
Agency principals
Line of business managers and executives
Risk managers
Underwriters
Municipal managers and executives
Public entity risk managers
School board executives
Chief risk officers
Executives concerned with risk
Risk management consultants
Commercial lines underwriting professionals
Client executives in brokerage firms

The above list is not exhaustive by any means. However, one can see the ARM is going to cover any job type that interfaces with risk. There are two more levels of specialization that did not exist when I received my ARM.

Hand Illustrating Associate in Risk Management With Pen

ARM-P is for public entities. The ARM-ERM is for enterprise risk management.

ARM 54

Risk Management Principles and Practices

ARM 55

Risk Assessment and Treatment

ARM 56

Risk Financing

RMPE 352

Risk Management for Public Entities

ERM 57

Enterprise Risk Management

As with The AIC designation, the first course seemed the most difficult as it covered so much ground. These are not courses like the AIC where one can go through the courses more quickly. You can check out educational aids that could cut your study time in half. I used them exclusively to get through the ARM. They were invaluable.

Bottom Line – If you wish to pursue a career in Risk, then I would recommend trying the first course ARM 54 to see what concepts will be covered in the next two courses. The ARM would be recommended if you are considering an area that is associated with claims which involves risk such as a general Risk Manager.

Attaining the ARM designation would keep one very flexible and ahead of the pack when looking to advance in the claims profession.

Workers Comp is covered on a limited basis in the Associate in Risk Management courses.

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

AIC Designation – Top 10 Secret Ways – Attain It Faster

January 19, 2017 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Associate in Claims AIC Designation Obtain It Faster

Bonus included below

The AIC designation is one of those painful yet rewarding parts of advancing your claims career. Most of the articles in this website are for Worker Comp adjusters. Check out the article from yesterday on why the Associate in Claims designation is now more important than ever.

aic designation Workers doing clipart of all insurance

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However, the AIC designation is not just for WC adjusters. Any person that handles insurance claims will likely benefit.

The Institutes provide many different tracks including Workers Compensation.

The top 10 ways to speed up the process are:

Stacking the tests – there is no rule that you have to do the courses one at a time.
Highly experienced multi-line adjusters may be able to complete courses rapidly.
The first two courses are the most difficult -they introduce everything at once
Just Start It – the hardest thing to do is start taking the courses
Orient yourself to where the tests are taken – pen and paper are long gone
Prepare to take them at testing center – sometimes not a great environment
Go here, will cut study time by 50% (according to website) I used these materials exclusively to obtain my designations – order all the materials to speed up process. The practice tests will lower the anxiety level and replace it with confidence.
Check out the Institute’s website – Look before you leap
Self Study will be the fastest method – nothing wrong with classroom or online instruction – but this is about finishing quickly
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Remember, this is about learning quickly, not just rushing through courses, please ignore this article if you are going to just blow through the courses – not the purpose of this list.
***Bonus – check with your adjuster license authority in your state. Most give a year’s worth of license credit with each AIC course or designation completion. If you finish a course just before and just after your license renewal period, you possibly only have to finish these courses to keep up your license. The time you would have spent on your adjuster education requirements can now be used to complete the AIC designation faster.

#5 and #6 above were the mistakes that I made which caused much more difficulty in any of my coursework including the AIC designation.

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Associate In Claims (AIC) – Never Looked Better For Work Comp Adjusters

January 18, 2017 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Associate In Claims (AIC) Designation Recommended For Work Comp Adjusters

The Associate in Claims Designation (AIC) is highly recommended for quite a few old and new reasons. One of the areas to consider is advances in technology.

Technological Advancement

Picture of workers people associate in claims insurance

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The level of technology in claims adjusting will likely advance very quickly over the next few years. Work Comp adjusters may possibly be replaced by new technology that would set reserves, process medical bills, etc. The word analytics shows up every day in the WC press. If your competitor is a software program, the analytics cannot replace an experienced adjuster who has been exposed to more Property and Casualty lines than just Workers Compensation.

ThE AIC designation teaches much more than just WC. Subrogation is one of the key areas where adjusters who are very specialized need to understand the claim processes beyond processing a WC claim.

Job Market Tightening

Even though the outlook is fair to good for adjusters, the insurance process lags behind approximately two to three years. The new administration may spike job growth. However, the employers have to first hire and then train employees. The job market for WC adjusters will likely become worse before it improves in 3 – 5 years.

Basic Competitive Forces

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If an adjuster is up for an advancement to a Senior Adjuster or Supervisory position, there will likely be a high level of competition. If you have an Associate in Claims designation, it shows that you are dedicated to the profession and wish to stay in the insurance arena, if not in claims, for the future. Anything that will put you ahead of the competition is great.

Insurance companies will very likely look to the general job market. There are no guarantees of internal promotions. Promotions may come from outside the carrier or TPA.

Subrogation

This area should be covered again even though it was mentioned earlier. Subrogation can be a tough area for a Workers Comp specialist. Even a one day training class may not make an adjuster proficient in subrogation. One adjuster recently remarked that his company had a subrogation unit so he did not worry about the subject.

Hand Presenting Associate In Claims Funds

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My response was – How do you know what files to send to the subro unit?

The AIC lends itself to giving the adjuster enough exposure to at least keeping an eye on any type of claims where a third party is responsible. If you, as an adjuster, can recover subrogation funds, then you have become indispensable to your organization.

Subrogation funds can be left on the table, so to speak, if you are not pursuing a third party that is at least partially responsible for the occurrence of an incident.

Final Word

There are no final words with me (inside joke). The highlights of an AIC will be covered tomorrow – even how to make it much easier and less time consuming to obtain your Associate in Claims.

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Opioid Statistics – Incredible Numbers From Recent Webinar

January 11, 2017 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Mind Blowing Opioid Statistics

These opioid statistics are astounding and verifiable. I was listening to a great webinar recording today – See next article.

Clipart of side view face opioid statistics

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One of the topics was the effect that opioids would have on Workers Compensation in 2017 and beyond. I was subsequently reading an article on opioids published by Dr. Mercola. Dr. Mercola has many free publications on health issues. The article contained incredible opioid statistics.

Some of the highlights were:

Opioids have been identified as the gateway drug to heroin use. Wow!
More people use opioids than smoke cigarettes. You have go to be kidding me!
This is not a street-drug epidemic as more opioids are prescribed than bought on the street. One has to wonder how many car crashes were caused by opioids.
Opioids kill more people every year than car crashes.
Many people can become addicted after just one course of opioid treatment

This last one was a quote from the head of the CDC – Dr. Tom Friedman “We know of no other medication routinely used for a nonfatal condition that kills patients so frequently.”

Wikipedia – Farmer Jan and bdesham

An earlier Cutcompcosts.com article pointed out that NCCI had found that 40% of all narcotics are taken by 1% of the Workers Comp patients. A friend of mine that works the night shift at a large pharmacy in the Boston area says that each night just before midnight, the Vicodin patients line up to get their refills just after midnight.

She calls it her “waiting room.” She also says that the numbers each night have been static over the last few years.

A large number of articles on Workers Comp vs Opioids seem to indicate an improvement in the reduction of abuse. After reading all these newer articles, it may have shifted from WC, but it is still a problem as proven by the preceding opioid statistics.

CMS WCMSA Against CIGA Turned Away By Federal Court

January 10, 2017 By JL Risk Management Consultants

CMS WCMSA Medicare

A CMS WCMSA is turned away by the Federal Court system partially. Acronyms are as follows :

CMS – Center for Medicare Medicaid Services
WCMSA – Workers Compensation Medicare Set Aside
CIGA – California Insurance Guarantee Association

Wikimedia Commons – Daderot

The order can be found here.. It is a PDF file. The case is CIGA v Burwell, DHS, and CMS. The case number is 2:15-cv-01113-ODW (FFMx)

The case is one that I recommend at least scanning the order for a few minutes. A large part of the nuts-and-bolts in CMS WCMSA handling can be found in the decision.

Some of the highlights were:

For two of the three demands at issue, CIGA disputed its liability for the charges on several grounds—including that they contained diagnosis codes that were not covered by the underlying workers’ compensation policies.

The Court is also unconvinced that CIGA has a “responsibility to make payment” for a treatment not covered by its policy just because that treatment is lumped together with other covered treatments on a line-item charge.

Gavel And Judge Chair CMS WCMSA In Court

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Defendants argue that because CMS will no longer seek reimbursement for the payments allegedly owed under the three claims, this action is moot and must be dismissed. CIGA responds that Defendants’ conduct does not make it “absolutely clear” that CMS will never again reopen these claims or reapply the offending practice, which means the case is not moot. The Court agrees with CIGA that no part of the case is moot.

The last passage above is very interesting as it seems CMS withdrew part of their case but the judge was concerned they would commence the same allegations in another lawsuit.

This decision came out of a Motion For Summary Judgement by the defendants. This decision may be one to print out and review carefully. I am just paraphrasing the decision for readability and conciseness.

Top 10 Self Insured Resolutions For New Year 2017

January 5, 2017 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Top 10 Self Insured Resolutions – 2017 and Beyond

The self insured resolutions for 2017 is an update of the last three years. I used to write resolutions for the voluntary marketplace only until a friend of mine asked about self insured resolutions. Many of the recommendations center around your Third Party Administrator (TPA).

Picture of long road 2017 and buildings Top 10 Self Insured Resolutions

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I have tried to write a large number of articles for self insureds over the years. The following are the Top Ten for 2017 – some will be reiterations of 2016 with a twist or two:

Obtain and know your LDF (Loss Development Factor) – As in Google Maps, you have to know where you want to start from if you are trying to find directions. If you do not have an LDF you need one NOW. Call me or email me if you do not have one.
Working relationship with adjusters – know their names and let them know what you are doing in the areas of the Six Keys To Workers Comp Savings. Think of them as remote contracted employees.
Use email – not phone calls
Wikimedia Commons – Pete O’Shea
– written documentation is paramount. Your adjusters – see #2 will appreciate limiting inquiry phone calls.
Conquer Your TPA expenses – review your TPA contract, use #3 heavily if you have questions on what you were charged to handle your claims.
Watch the Learning Curve for Accident Spikes – Safety is so very important here. If the economy picks up under President Trump (assumption), the first time someone uses a machine, drives a new route, etc. is when a large % of accidents occur in the workplace.
Use online access when available – Accessing your claims information online is a real-time and headache saver. Combine this with #3 above to keep your communication time dedication lower.
Attend A Workers Comp or Safety Conference of some type – there are many mentioned in these articles, use the search box to see about upcoming or past, the things you will learn are astounding such as new vendors or technology upgrades.
Wikimedia Commons – User:Steevven1
Subscribe to our weekly Newsletter – free and to the point, subscribe using the box at the top right, we do not sell or rent out our mailing list, never. Yes, a self-serving one.
Obtain Your Loss Runs and memorize them – know the who, what, when, where, how, and why of all your accidents. See #6 for the best way to obtain loss runs.
Write an article on Workers Comp – even if it is just for your internal company news. I have learned so much in writing articles over the years. Try it. You will like it. Feel free to reference and use the 1600+ articles in this database. Use the search box for any subject. I am not the greatest author on the planet, but I had to start somewhere.