http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20120415/NEWS08/304159958?tags=|304|92

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Members of the National Council of Self-Insurers:

Since 1991 workers’ compensation claims have declined significantly.  The average has been 4% per year.  The main causes have been improved safety programs and workplace automation.

During the past year, however, claims have risen by 2 to 5%. The upturn may be driven by factors typically occurring, as the economy moves into recovery from a recession.

Although it is too early for data to verify whether a slight rise amounts to an ongoing trend, recent hiring of new, temporary and seasonal workers may be among the reasons for the rise in claims.

Safety and risk management budgets that were slashed during the recession, a leaner work force doing more work, employees losing fear of filing claims as alternative job prospects improve, also may be factors, said Joe Picone, Chief Claim Officer for Willis North America’s Strategic Outcomes Practice, and a speaker at a recent meeting of the National Council of Self-Insurers.

Although hiring remains anemic, the 18 month-long great recession ended in June 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research of Cambridge, MA.

Historically, claims surge at the end of recessions, as new workers typically suffer more injuries than experienced employees.

Recently created jobs are lower paying, which tend to drive more claims than better paying jobs, said Neil Harrison, Group Managing Director of Risk Control of the AON Corporation in Chicago.  The sort of hiring that is going on is at the level in an organization that is likely to drive frequency up, Mr. Harrison said.

While the increase in claims is small and the time is too early to scientifically analyze the data, the increase does represent a reversal from claim decreases during the past twenty years and particularly during the depth of the recent recession.

The above is from a recent article in Business Insurance, written by Roberto Ceniceros, Senior Editor.

——2/27/2012—–

http://www.ijacademy.com/use-of-narcotics-growing-in-work-comp-injury-management?utm_source=promos&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=work-comp-narcotics

Workers’ compensation fraud laws in Montana are another example of a playing field that is not level, Plan 2 insurers have the Dept of Insurance Fraud unit to investigate and prosecute potential fraud cases, Plan 3 Montana State Fund has it’s own internal unit of licensed peace officers who investigate and cooperate with the state Dept of Justice to prosecute suspected fraud cases…all funded with premium dollars via the State of Montana…Plan 1 organizations, self-insureds, have no such system nor immunity from actions arising out of investigation or prosecution of suspected fraud cases.  Example of Plan 3 prosecuting a case that would not be available to a self-insured organization:
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_f0402e8e-e627-54ba-806f-536faae1a673.html

A recent article seems to support the processes used for medical insurance to rate physicians and medical providers for implementation in the workers’ compensation claims process.  Read the article here…