• Home
    • Workers Comp Audit Stress Reducer – Use It For Your Next Premium Audit
  • About Us
    • Cutting Workers Comp Costs – About Our Company
    • President – Expert James J Moore AIC MBA ChFC ARM
    • OSHA Risk Manager – Glen DuLac – Added To Fulfill Customer Service
  • Work Comp Consultants
  • Free Info
    • Definitions
    • Free Speech
  • Testimonials
  • FAQ
  • Free Manuals
  • Six Secrets
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

J&L Risk Management Consultants

Work Comp expert witness reserve reviews premium audits for employers

icons
Call us today! 1-800-813-1386
WORKERS' COMPENSATION PREMIUM REFUNDS POSSIBLE.
Home » Wokrers Comp Changes

Workers Comp Content – Avoiding the Recycle Button

February 20, 2020 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Workers Comp Content – Are We Just Recycling The Same Subjects?

Creating new and interesting Workers Comp content becomes more of a challenge with every article.   Google dislikes repetitive content.   I think it has a point.  No one wants to read the same thing over and over again. 

pic workers comp content recycling bins

Wikimedia Public Use License – EpSos de Flickr

Take the coronavirus, for instance, one news story was slightly altered and repeated again and again at almost all news outlets.   An article from 2018 shows my concern for the same-old-same-old recycled crises in Workers Comp content.    

For instance, the opioid crises occurred in the  1980s and again in the 1990s.  Workers Comp gave it due attention in 2009 and forward.  

The Workers Comp Medicare Set-Asides were the big news for quite some time.  That subject faded away.  Do not worry.  The WCMSAs will be the buzzword again soon.  Trust me. 

Fresh Workers Comp Content Frustrating At Times

Man working workers comp content at his desk

StockUnlimited

I, as have other Workers Comp blog authors, sit for many hours racking my brain to provide good content that is not a rehash of older articles that I have written in the last 10 years.  

Writing on conferences seemed to create a large amount of fresh Workers Comp content.  Then, the conferences became repetitive, so my resulting articles followed suit and also became repetitive. 

I do not write every article to satisfy Google’s SEO rules.  Most of them are written to follow those guidelines.  Many search terms where I have broken every rule ranked higher than when I stayed in the boundaries of proper SEO.    The J&L Cutcompcosts.com website does not sell any materials online.  I am told that I need to convert to https for reader privacy and safety.   What info would a user put on this website as no information is required? 

One of the more irritating rules suggests that the longer the article, the better the article will rank.  If you notice now on a Google search, you end up with massive articles that contain the answer to your one quick question – but you have to scroll through countless paragraphs to find your answer.  

California AB 5 Example

California Assembly Bill 5 ( AB 5) seemed to cover new ground in Workers’ Comp content. (Not so.)   The battle between Federal and State taxing agencies and employers that use independent contractors has been waged since the 1940s. 

Couple workers comp content arguing

StockUnlimited

Workers Comp carriers and employers debating on who is a covered contractor and who is not has been in existence as long as Workers’ Comp carriers have been in existence.

California AB 5 looked to be a new idea on how to handle independent contractors.  Then again, that new CA law still remains in flux and will not be settled for a few years, if ever. 

Top Ten Recycled Terms Over The Last 30 Years 

You can fill in this list below as it applies to your situation.   These 10 comes from my experience and background. 

  1. Employee or Employer Fraud
  2. Opiates 
  3. Major court decisions
  4. Independent Contractors 
  5. Soft Market vs. Hard Market 
  6. Carriers and PEO’s closing shop
  7. Analytics becoming the main statistical drivers – still waiting on this one 
  8. Non-opioid treatment regimens 
  9. Classification Code changes – happens every year 
  10. New forms of Workers Comp insurance that turn out to be the old forms – just repackaged 

The list could easily reach 100 if one takes enough time to think through the recycled Workers’ Comp content.  

 

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: Wokrers Comp Changes Tagged With: CA law, flux, Opiates, SEO, slightly altered, WCMSA

Workers Comp Hot Buttons Top 10 Recycled Again

February 9, 2017 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Workers Comp Hot Buttons Recycled Every Few Years – Yawn!

The Top 10 Workers Comp hot buttons never seem to be new.  The topics are recycled again and again as newfound topics of the press and in most WC conversations.  

Top 10 Workers Comp Hot Buttons Recycle Logo

(c) 123rf

If one thinks about it for a few minutes, has there really been a new topic of discussion on Work Comp in the last 20 years?  Let us look at the recycled topics aka workers comp hot buttons:

  1. Opioids – this was a major concern now and 15 years ago.   The title for it then was Pharmaceutical Management.  It is the same topic with a new moniker.  People overdoing medications in Workers Comp has been a hot button item for decades.
  2. Fraud – this one is recycled like beverage cans.  Employer fraud, employee fraud, provider fraud – the list goes on and on.  This topic recycles every few years.   News articles are still published as filler on an employee that ran a business while receiving workers comp checks. 
  3. Alternative insurance coverages – Captives, PEO’s, Large deductible, small deductible – these will be back in the news as newfound topics within five years – trust me on this one.  There are a few viable ways to cut your workers comp costs using the alternative markets. 
  4. Senate or House Bill <fill in the blank> – this one seems to be concentrated more in California.  A new bill becomes the topic of conversation and is the buzz in the press for weeks to months.   Then along comes another one and the last one fades in the rearview mirror. 

    Picture Red Of Workers Comp Hot Buttons

    Wikimedia – włodi

  5. An unfair Workers Comp System – a reporter or news organization pulls together a few injured workers that were shorted by the system and tried to make it the slippery slope method – one therefore all are mistreated – even though Workers Comp is still the best delivery method for healing and benefits available. 
  6. Workers Comp is Dead – I have forecasted this one myself – however I was talking about more of a warning for the WC community  to be flexible as sitting behind your desk and waiting for the other shoe to drop will not cut it nowadays.  After the current Presidential election, many so-called pundits said that WC is doomed – not so fast.  Flexibility is the key. 
  7. Decentralization/Centralization – also known as expansion/retraction.   This area is two-fold; one from the carriers/TPA’s and one from vendors.  We are in a centralization phase as carriers/TPA’s are buying each other up at an accelerated pace as are the vendors who are absorbing competitors.  This phase has happened at least 4 -5 times in my WC career.   Tech may sustain a decentralization to a point. 

    Hand Emphasizing Workers Comp Hot Buttons Risk Management

    StockUnlimited

  8. The Big Safety Push vs. Eliminating Safety/Risk Management – this is the area where companies hemorrhage funds.  Employers will all of a sudden push safety very heavily – usually right after a spate of accidents or a visit from OSHA. The other side of the coin is the companies that have eliminated all of their safety or risk management efforts as a way to save short term cash.  The bottom line here is eliminating safety and risk management in any organization will always cost more in the long term.  I have seen the financials of many companies that back up having a safety department even if it is an outside safety consultant. 
  9.  The Big Work Comp Tech Push – WC is 10 – 15 years behind even health in most areas of tech.  I have jumped down into the proverbial rabbit hole many times to look at tech.  I have a very heavy tech background.  Tech improvements seem normal to me.  However, I am still on the lookout for a decent WC app or any tech outside of medical devices. 
  10. Work Comp Gurus – Workers compensation soothsayers come and go once or twice a decade.  The blogosphere has many including myself.  Look at their backgrounds heavily before you make a decision as to whether they know their subject.  This part of the insurance world is too complicated for one person to say they know “the industry.”    My twitter handle is @workcompguru.  I actually started the name as a happy hour joke, no really as one of my long-time friends would always call me Mister Guru when we discussed WC.   The old saying “If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I do not know” fits well. 

Next week I will cover how to combat these recycled changes in the Workers Comp markets from  the workers comp hot buttons. 

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: Wokrers Comp Changes Tagged With: centralization, decentralization, insurance gurus, pharmaceutical management, senate bill, slope method

What Will Workers Comp Industry Look Like In 10 Years?

May 30, 2013 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Workers Comp Looks To Change In A Static Industry

The Workers Comp industry always wonders what the landscape will look like in 10 years. Recruiters, Supervisors, and/or HR Departments will usually ask this question at some point in the job interview.  “Where do you see yourself in 5, 7, or 10 years?”   The standing answer usually is supervisor, Manager, and then VP.

Badge of 10 Years Workers Comp Look Like

StockUlimited

Using that same tact, where will Workers Comp be in 10 years?  One of the most sure things is the way that banking, insurance, and finance has stayed the same at its core while there have been quite a few changes.

The easiest way to project the next 10 years is to look at the same time period into the past.  The major changes for Workers Compensation were:

  • WCMSA Offsets
  • Affordable Care Act
  • Network additions such as PBM’s, DME’s, MPN’s.
  • Technology Advancement – even though WC severely lags in this area
  • More attention to ALAE (Allocated Loss Adjustment Expenses)
  • Recessionary Job Market’s effect on return to work
  • Carrier/TPA’s flux of centralization and decentralization
  • Vendor changes such as Intracorp
  • Adjusters less dependent upon assistants for communications and form processing
  • States becoming more homogenous such as adding fee schedules
  •  Exponential growth of WC info online
  • Remote adjusting
Family Running Workers Comp Through Sea At sunset

StockUnlimited

The next 10 years for Workers Comp may have:

  • Claims staffs working from home more than in an office
  • Video (Skype, etc.) contact with employers, doctors, and injured employees
  • Remote video mediations
  • Elimination of all paper forms and files – the true paperless office
  • Hacking of WC data – some insurance claims systems are very vulnerable
  • 24 hour healthcare as a replacement for Workers Comp using Affordable Healthcare Act state and federal exchanges
  • Workers Comp becoming very homogenous – possibly the same forms and rules with indexing for weekly TTD payments across all states
  • Healthcare and Workers Comp insurance being provided by the same carriers more often
  • Certain jobs reduced sharply or eliminated – there were once exclusively WC field adjusters as I was one when I first started in the business.

There are many more changes that have occurred over the last 10 years and others that will occur in the next 10.  If you think of any, please feel free to comment. 

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: Wokrers Comp Changes Tagged With: Future, recruiting, Supervisor, VP

Workers Comp Major Changes – Six Signals Show Upcoming Changes

March 25, 2010 By JL Risk Management Consultants

Workers Comp Major Changes

We now have six signals for Workers Comp major changes.  The Death of Workers Comp was our most popular blog post since I started it. I have heard from many readers that say “no way.”

Vector Graphic Of Human Icon Workers Comp Major Changes Reading Book

StockUnlimited

Below is a list of things to make one think further about the changing WC landscape.

1. The Feds will have all Workers Comp data from the CMS database soon. They can analyze it to their advantage.

2. Senator Byrd from WV – very powerful – has twice tried to add 24 hour coverage amendments to different bills.

3. The Federal Insurance Office (FIO) was quietly created in a finance package.

4. At a major rating bureau conference, the main presenter said “They may not get all they want now, but the Feds will keep expanding their powers into WC every year.”

5. Twenty years ago, no one would have thought that we would have a nationalized health care system – but we do now.

6. It was a river to cross to have 24 hour healthcare coverage in the past, now it is a small stream to step over. The AFLAC model is the best example.

Workers Comp is not soon going away. If anyone believes it will not change quickly – six letters – CMS MSA.   The way that claims departments settle files changed greatly since having to have CMS approval to mood forward.  The CMS WCMSA represents just one workers comp major change in the last few years.   More are coming. 

©J&L Risk Management Inc Copyright Notice

Filed Under: Wokrers Comp Changes Tagged With: database, MSA, Workers Comp landscape

Email Subscription

Search this website:

Work Comp Premium Audit Work Comp Mod Expert work comp expert witnessWork Comp Expert ReservesWork Comp Claim File Audit ExpertWork Comp Expert Witness

About Me

My Photo

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

 

Archives

  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007

Recent Posts

  • 2021 NCCI Annual Issues Symposium – Free Good Info – May 11 and 12
  • How Workers Comp Claims Pandemic Data Is Only 25% Correct
  • AIC Designation Changes – One Major Modification To Study Guides
  • My Three Favorite Articles That Hooked My Attention – Must Read
  • Coronavirus Vaccine Journey – Second Act – Over in 30 Minutes
  • How Workers Comp Weekly Rate Is Calculated – Temporary Total Disability
  • How Microcaptive 831(b) Arrangements Were Disrupted This Month
  • My COVID-19 Vaccination – Among The Everyday Heroes
  • WCRI 2021 State of the States Presentation – The Past Rules
  • Back To Work During A Pandemic For The Employee – Another Look
J&L Risk Management Consultants Inc
14460 Falls of Neuse Road,
Suite 149305
Raleigh, NC 27614
(800) 813-1386
▲Return to top of page
Copyright © 2021 J&L Risk Management Consultants, Inc.

Website Design by Redwood [ Design - Print - Web ]