In an open letter to the California workers’ compensation community posted on the WCIRB website, President and CEO Bill Mudge describes some of the transformations taking place at the WCIRB including a new mission statement, new core values, and a renewed commitment to openness and transparencys.

The letter also noted that one of the WCIRB top priorities is monitoring and analyzing the impact on system costs of SB 863 as they emerge in statewide loss and loss adjustment expenses.

To that end, the WCIRB developed, in collaboration with industry experts who serve on its Claims Working Group and Actuarial Committee, a detailed and comprehensive SB 863 Cost Monitoring Plan. As data becomes available, the WCIRB will make it available to everyone in the workers’ compensation community. This plan has been submitted to Insurance Commissioner Jones for approval.

SB 863 is not the only significant change to occur for the WCIRB in 2012. It embarked on an ambitious transformation and modernization of the WCIRB’s business operations and culture, and developed a new mission statement which sharply defines the WCIRB’s role and will guide actions in the coming years. The new mission statement is: “The WCIRB is California’s trusted, objective provider of actuarially-based information and research, advisory pure premium rates, and educational services integral to a healthy workers’ compensation system.”

The WCIRB transformation started at the top with a restructuring of the senior management team. It promoted David Bellusci – the WCIRB’s highly respected Chief Actuary – to the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. It also promoted Eric Riley to the newly-created position of Chief Customer Officer – a job dedicated to the WCIRB commitment to broad external outreach and customer service to its members and all system stakeholders. The WCIRB brought on board a new Chief Information Officer, Raj Marwah, to lead its ambitious technology modernization efforts. Completing the senior management team is Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Brenda Keys who serves as the WCIRB’s primary liaison with the California Department of Insurance and has responsibility for all legal issues.

Looking forward in 2013, the WCIRB will deploy Phase 2 of STAR (its new operating system for processing unit statistical data and reports and for the promulgation of more than 125,000 experience modifications a year) to incorporate a new policy audit system and significantly extend our online services. Taken together, these two initiatives will allow WCIRB members and other data submitters to completely eliminate paper interaction with the WCIRB. Our goal together is to reduce costs while increasing process speed and efficiency.