Archives for December 2020

NCCI State Advisory Meetings Worth Your Time? – Most Definitely

December 17, 2020 By JL Risk Management Consultants

NCCI State Advisory Meetings – Golden Nuggets of Info Treasure Chest

The NCCI State Advisory Meetings also called Forums still provide a huge amount of information for agents, employers, underwriters, adjusters, and other data wonks. I have recommended this area of NCCI for at least 15 years.

NCCI is the rating bureau for 40 states – based in Boca Raton, FL. In the late 1980s and 1990s, I used to work across the street from their HQ.

Now, of course, they record the meetings due to COVID-19. Even if they do not have a state forum in your area, the NCCI state advisory meetings can provide you with a ton of great info. Follow along here and I will show you my angle on the data provided by NCCI.

Let us look at Arkansas – hang on a minute – this is going to prove itself to be worth your time (promise).

NCCI analyzes data in Arkansas or any state at:

State Level – as expected
Regional Level – are you thinking of expanding into other states?
National Level – compared to the US stats

You can find the Arkansas Forum pdf here. Download it, no really go ahead and download it. Go to Slide 44. In one slide you can see very quickly the Indemnity and Medical Benefit-Cost split in Arkansas, and n the region:

Louisiana
Missouri
Mississippi
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Texas.

The national statistics are also represented on the slide. Wow, a plethora of info in 10 seconds – not bad, right?

In case you do not know what is included in indemnity and medical benefits, there is a slide for that info. See Slide 56 for a full glossary of terms. By the way, NCCI does not mind if you download their presentation slides (thanks NCCI).

OK for those who did want to download the slide, here is the thumbnail of the slide, click on it to see a larger picture.

Graph from NCCI State Advisory Meetings - Arkansas

Three things you can quickly take from just one chart are:

Arkansas’s indemnity benefits are lower than the region and the US
The region’s benefits costs are very similar to the US
Medical benefits are 56+% of a workers comp claim compared to 65% for Arkansas

The regional figures remain one of the best comparisons for companies that:

Agencies that want to write in more states
Employers considering expanding into states in that area
Arkansas employers looking to expand
Risk managers can use this info to the nth degree

The Kid’s Chance organization on slides 39 – 41 should always be a stopping place to read about a great grass-roots organization started in 1988 in Georgia. They provide scholarships to the children of very severely or fatally injured workers across the nation.

If you want to instead see the presentations online, NCCI State Advisory meetings can be viewed by clicking on the respective state.

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Workers Comp Medical Treatment – Faster is Better

December 16, 2020 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Quick Workers Comp Medical Treatment Key To Cutting Costs

The main Key To Cutting Your Insurance budget remains providing quick workers comp medical treatment for your injured employees. Having a medical network is a critical cost saver even if you are a small employer.

Wikimedia – Paola.navarro.fit

A Goldmine of Workers Comp Medical Treatment Articles

If you wish to read further, click on this search to read many of the articles I have written over the last 12 years on this very subject. You can also print them out or save them for later reading or as a source to quote for your own articles or blogs.

Google decides which articles are more important. J&L has little control over the ranking. Google usually ranks them very well.

Pre-recorded + One Upcoming Conference On Responsive Medical Treatment

Two venerable organizations have recorded or will provide an upcoming videoconference on quick workers comp medical treatment.

WCIRB – Good one from last month – Study Link + Presentation Slides

The study link is here. PDF file.

The presentation slides link is here. PDF File.

Yes, the WCIRB only covers California. Almost all the time I have read medical treatment studies from the WCIRB, they align with the rest of the nation.

Dave Bellusci is one of my favorite Workers Comp prognosticators. Both files deserve at least a quick read.

WCRI – Quick Workers Comp Medical Treatment – Physical Therapy

WCRI provides a great webinar and study on Thursday (12/17) at 2 PM East Coast time. One can look at this more globally as providing rapid medical treatment is a money saver.

I read this study when it was published. You can find it here along with a link to their free Medical Cost Index Study – another one worth reading.

From WCRI – (Sign up here for the webinar) – there may be a charge for non-members

As an increasing number of workers with injuries are receiving physical therapy (PT), this WCRI study finds that for workers with low back pain (LBP) only injuries, early initiation of PT is associated with lower utilization and costs of medical services and shorter duration of temporary disability (TD). The study focuses on claims with LBP-only injuries, recognizing that PT is often used as first-line treatment for LBP and other musculoskeletal injuries before considering opioid prescriptions and invasive procedures.

The webinar will address the following questions:
• How often do workers with LBP-only injuries receive early vs. late PT?
• Does early PT help reduce utilization and costs of medical services and shorten TD duration?
• What factors may have considerable influence on PT timing and outcomes?

This study is based on nearly 26,000 LBP-only claims with more than seven days of lost time from 27 states, with injuries from October 1, 2015, through March 31, 2017, and detailed medical transactions up through March 31, 2018. The 27 states are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The Bottom Line On Quick Workers Comp Medical Treatment

Three venerable organizations – The WCIRB, WCRI, and J&L Risk Management have all shown that with workers comp medical treatment – the faster the better to cutting workers comp costs.

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Workers Comp Premium Calculation Video – Great Explanations

December 11, 2020 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Workers Comp Premium Calculation Video – Good Quick Explanation

This 4-minute video is well worth your time. The video is from C3 Insurance Academy. You can reduce your viewing time to three minutes if you do not wish to see the alternate shortcut way to figure your premiums. This is a great job by C3 Insurance Academy.

I sometimes find videos on YouTube that are worth watching on Workers Comp. This would be one of them.

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An Apology To Our Article and Newsletter Readers

December 10, 2020 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Crashes and Late Newsletter

Last week, we had a web consultant company tie up a few loose ends. One of the consultants accidentally clicked a button that sent the website reeling.

A very quick explanation – the website is set up as

cutcompcosts.com/year/month/article name

The consultant changed all 2,000 web pages and 1,800 articles to

cutcompcosts.com/article name

All the internal and external links were set up on the first example. If you accessed the website it was slow or gave you the dreaded 404 error or the even more dreaded 500 Server Outage (Ouch!)

We rebuilt all the databases. As you may know, it takes time for everything to straighten back out to normal.

We try to send the newsletter out on Thursdays at 1 PM. We are holding it until tomorrow morning Friday, December 11th to make sure we did not miss any leftover bugs, gremlins, or grinches.

One button clicked and BOOM! Yes, we had backups, but by the time we figured out the problems, we could not turn back the dial a week.

Thanks for your understanding. Whew! What a week!

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AIC Associate in Claims Designation Article Most Popular of 2020

December 10, 2020 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Associate In Claims (AIC) Designation Popularity Positive Sign

The Associate in Claims (AIC) articles that I wrote over the year were the most popular article search on the J&L website for 2020. Usually, I check later in late December to see which articles were the most read for each year.

One unusual statistic that stood out was the number of times the Associate in Claims articles were read that were written over the last ten years.

Wikimedia License – Zach Catanzareti Photo

You can find the article links in the next section. The articles are worth a read if you want to see how to start working on adding designations to your resume’.

This year, the AIC article was the most clicked on out of all the articles (almost 1800) that appear on this blog. This interest shows mainly three things:

Self-improvement in the insurance industry is at an all-time high
Working at home during the pandemic cause a higher level of self-awareness
Self-Study is easier if you have more “alone time”

Associate in Claims AIC Articles

The list of AIC articles is:

How Long To Get AIC Designation

10 Secret Ways To Attain AIC Designation Faster

AIC Designation Never Looked Better For Workers Comp Adjusters

One can read the articles in 30 minutes or less. The most popular of the three articles was the 10 Secret Ways articles. I cannot stress enough if you are very interested to use the Jack Keir For Success Books mentioned in the articles. The links to their website are there.

Benefits of Having Your AIC

A Second Look – The AIC Gets You Noticed.

If your resume’ or CV is stacked in a pile online, the AIC may likely at least get you into an interview or second look. When I was administering over claim departments, if an adjuster/supervisor/manager had attained the AIC, it made me look at that person’s background very closely.

Even now if I need to bring in a contracting consultant to assist me with some claims project, the AIC designation always makes me retain that person’s resume’ even if I may not have used their services.

If a Senior Adjuster, Supervisory, or Manager job posts at your company, the AIC may assist you in receiving a promotion. I was promoted to a Senior Adjuster within two months of passing all the AIC courses after receiving a letter from the Executive VP congratulating me on my accomplishment.

Reimbursement by Carriers/TPA’s and Other Companies

Check with your personnel manual, HR Department, and Supervisor to see if you can receive reimbursement. One caveat is that you need to make sure you finish the AIC courses rapidly so that you do not have to go out-of-pocket for a long period of time.

Even if you do not receive reimbursement, Lifetime Learning Credit or American Opportunity Credit means that you can subtract the monies paid out from your taxable income. This is not a deduction, but a very valuable credit. Check with your tax advisor for more info. The link will take you to the Motley Fool webpage on the credit.

AIC Not Just For Adjusters

Understanding the claims process can benefit

Agents/Brokers
Underwriters
Actuaries
Risk Managers
Many other insurance positions.

Amazing Associate in Claims Statistics

95% of completers said that their designation demonstrates professional competency

93%of completers gained advanced knowledge.

81%of those in their career less than 2 years said that earning this designation increased their overall job opportunities

How To Get Started on Your AIC

Check out the Institute’s page here on getting started. You can contact me if you have any questions on our Contact Us page. Good luck and congrats if you have decided to obtain your AIC – Associate in Claims designation.

Reopened Workers Comp Claims – Watch The Reserves

December 3, 2020 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Reopened Workers Comp Claims – Big Problem

When does a reopened Workers Comp claim cost more budget for insured and self-insured employers?

picture of wise old workers comp reopened claims owl

Public Use License – Jordiferrer

I reviewed a file this morning that had one of the classics that cause agents, risk managers. underwriters, rating bureaus, and most importantly insureds to become very irritated at claims adjusters.

Adjusters have a tough enough time making everyone happy (think impossible)

As with my last article, an easy fix can be accomplished. I will give you the exact example with all the names removed for anonymity.

UNITSTAT Date vs Reopened Workers Comp Claims

All Was Not Well, as Reopening Made The Claim Not End Well

A very good Senior adjuster had handled a claim very well, in my opinion. Good job! The file was closed timely. The claim was an eye injury. Those claims can be complicated sometimes.

The injured employee, being a conscientious employee that was moved into their home from the office increased her dedication to the utmost. She worked 15 hour days for her employer – possibly too many hours. Here is an E for Effort from me to her.

A good employee that had an eye injury on the job was only out for two weeks. This is one of those claims where the employee, employer, carrier, and provider all worked together to return a good employee as soon as possible to gainful employment.

The employer provided her a desk-type job. My Six Keys For Saving On Workers Comp claims were followed. All parties in the claim did an excellent job.

Because the employee only had two weeks out of work, the reserves were set very accurately. The medical portion of the reserves was set very high due to the possibility of eye surgery, which never happened with the injured employee’s medical treatment.

Check here for articles on UNISTAT Date if you want to see more about them. In short, think 6 months after the policy expiration for timing.

Just Bad Timing?

This situation happens quite often. The file was reopened with the old reserve even though it was just to pay for a few medical bills. The bills totaled $845

The file was reopened with in excess of $20,000 in medical reserves. What happened from there was the injured employee was seen and all medical bills were paid. Even if there was a future office visit, the file reserves were left open with $20,000+.

The UNISTAT date hit and Boom! – $20,000 of extra reserves hit their Experience Modification Factor.

Moral of The Reopened Workers Comp Claims Story

Reopened files happen often. The main idea – regardless of timing – is to reclose the file or reduce the reserves quickly when the file is reopened to fit the situation.

No, $20,000 was not a tragedy in this situation.

I have seen files during the pandemic in much larger amounts for reopened workers comp claims. No, I am not being too picky.

Workers Comp Liability Subrogation – Vehicle Accident Steps

December 3, 2020 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Workers Comp Liability Subrogation – Seven Steps For Vehicles

What Is Workers Comp Liability Subrogation for auto accidents? Let us take an example I have on my screen in front of me. The insured employers and adjusters working on this together allow for quicker recoveries from any third party in case of an automobile accident that results in a Workers Comp claim.

Truck workers comp liability subrogation pic

Wikimedia Commons – Celica21gtfour

A great subrogation example and definition can be found here.

This article points to use by adjusters. Insured employers and others can help the claims staff do their investigation by assisting the adjuster. Any time anyone can help the adjuster do their 13 job duties, the claims Total Incurred will be lower which will result in lower premiums.

Self-insureds, you should pay attention as this article can assist you to return cash to your budget.

One of my huge concerns right now in the insurance industry adjusters used to be trained in all lines of coverages such as:

Automobile – we are talking about this one today
Premises Liability
Product Liability
Contractor/Subcontractor Liability
Miscellaneous lines of insurance

The Seven Steps For Automobile Accidents

Improving your Workers Comp Liability Subrogation Investigation

Let’s go over the seven steps together – easy peezy. One extra step is that if you feel you are in over your head then review it with your claims supervisor or manager and possibly local legal counsel or your staff legal counsel.

Consult your claims manual in case it differs from my suggestions (not legal advice). You can do this without having to use a service to do it for you.

Do not dismiss the workers comp liability subrogation accident. Just because it does not look like a third party is not possibly responsible, do not just check the No box. I have a claim right here in front of me where the adjuster did just that. What the adjuster missed was the next step. I am not being picky.
Obtain the police report. This used to be a huge task. With the advent of the internet, this step became easier. Read the police report. The address of the possible responsible third party shows up somewhere in the police report – very important. Review who was ticketed. If you cannot tell who is the third party’s insurer from the police report, use the Index Bureau (should be in your system.)
Take Statements – preferably recorded, or have the person write down what happened, sign, and mail it to you. A file note that you talked to someone is not sufficient. People tend to forget the specifics of the accident months or years later. Caveat – if you take a recorded statement – offer to send a copy to the person giving the statement.
Do everything in writing, not by email. You may need to explain the actions you took on the file to a court or your attorney. Priority Mail automatically tracks your letter or use Certified Mail. Once you discover what insurer the possibly responsible party has for coverage, write them immediately, time is of the essence.
Very important – once a third party has accepted liability, then adjust your reserves accordingly. Do not leave unnecessary reserves on the table. The rating bureaus, agents, actuaries, data reporters, and the insured employer will thank you later for keeping the appropriate numbers.
Make sure any funds recovered are posted to the file – should you leave the file open for the recovery? Consult your claims manual or supervisor. Reopening the file and forgetting to close a file that had a huge reserve can be very harmful to the insured – see my next article on that situation.
Big secret one that may save the subrogation – Call the Assistant District Attorney in the local county where the accident happened if the third party was ticketed. Tell them who you are and that you have a subrogation lien on the file before the date of the hearing. Why? Because if the Assistant DA dismisses the ticket then your subrogation lien just faded away. This suggestion should be reviewed by your supervisor and staff attorney before you make the call. Do not run afoul of the local law in that jurisdiction or your own jurisdiction.

These seven steps will help any adjuster with the Workers Comp liability subrogation of automobile accidents. Insured employers may want to keep a diary of the file – see this article to accomplish that task.