Perspectives on the WCIRB’s 100 year history and its future, success stories from an innovative self-insured employer, and a glimpse at some of the issues that will likely shape the workers’ compensation debate in the years to come are among the highlights of the WCIRB’s Annual Workers’ Compensation Conference held in San Francisco on Thursday, June 11, 2015.
This year’s conference placed special emphasis on the integral role that the WCIRB has played in the workers’ compensation system since its founding in 1915. As part of his welcome message to conference attendees, WCIRB President and CEO Bill Mudge reflected on the organization’s century of service to the California workers’ compensation community and highlighted recent initiatives that have transformed the WCIRB into a more modern enterprise and one that exemplifies its centennial motto of “100 Years Young.”
Watch the Video: The WCIRB: 100 Years Young (12 minutes) Bill Mudge, President and CEO, WCIRB.
This year’s featured guest was California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones who provided a regulator’s perspective on the California workers’ compensation system and commented on the positive working relationship between the California Department of Insurance and the WCIRB.
Bill Zachry, VP of Risk Management for Safeway Inc. shared some success stories from his work at Safeway – a large self-insured employer with over 2,400 locations and 250,000 employees throughout the United States. In his presentation, Mr. Zachry detailed a number of strategies used by Safeway to lower its cost of workers’ compensation by 40% compared to the overall industry average.
Watch the Video: Insights from an Innovative Self Insurer (42 minutes) – Bill Zachry, VP of Risk Management, Safeway Inc.
Dave Bellusci, the WCIRB’s EVP and chief actuary delivered his presentation in two parts. The first provided an overview of the 100 year old California workers’ compensation system in terms of premiums and market share, claim frequency and severity, overall industry results and SB 863 cost monitoring. In the second half, he compared California to the rest of the country and delved into some of the factors that contribute to California being a high cost workers’ compensation state such as higher permanent disability claim frequency, higher medical costs late in the life of a claim and high benefit delivery costs.
Part I: California Workers’ Compensation System at 100 Years: A WCIRB Perspective. Part II: How Do We Rate? Dave Bellusci, EVP and Chief Actuary, WCIRB
To close the conference, Bill Mudge moderated a panel discussion titled The Beat on the Street: What is Happening Next in California Workers’ Compensation that included representatives from the insurer, medical provider, employer, and legal communities. The wide range of discussion explored issues including medical provider fraud and potential ways in which insurers and medical provider networks can play a role in reducing it; the factors that influence whether an injured worker seeks representation; the incentives that exist in the workers’ compensation system that drive unwanted behaviors; friction forces that drive costs and potentially delay benefit delivery; and the improved outcomes that are possible through proactive, empathetic communication between claims staff and injured workers.
The WCIRB Annual Workers’ Compensation Conference is held each year in June in Northern California. Attendees include senior executives from WCIRB member companies and other California workers’ compensation system stakeholders. Attendance is by invitation only.