Reform from Within; Employers Take Control - 4

Saturday, August 2, 2003 | 0

Reform From Within: Placing Control of Work Comp in the Hands of the Employers - Where it Belongs - Part 4

This is part 4 of a 5 part series for employers on taking charge of workers' compensation reform by reevaluating the employer/emnployee relationship in the context of a work injury.

In Part 1 we identified the many problems contributing to the national workers' compensation crisis: who is taking responsibility, and who is suffering most. In Part 2, we explore some of the ways employers can, and should, take charge of their own workers' compensation cases and enact reform from within. In Part 3, we examined some of the causes that contribute to escalating work comp fees and what employers can to take back control. In this installment, we explore how untrained and overworked carriers add to the problem of escalating workers' comp payouts and what employers can do to manage cases from within.

The Solution: Employers, Take More Control of Your Work comp - Reform From Within!

Let's go back to our injured worker and let's have a work comp coordinator with a proper system in place handling injuries in your company.

Our employee - a valuable asset - has been injured. First, we treat them as such. We make certain that they are provided the appropriate level of medical care immediately. Our work comp coordinator has trained our supervisors on exactly how to deal with an injury. Paperwork is handled smoothly and routed to the work comp coordinator, who will interface with the carrier and make sure that our injured worker is spared any unnecessary hassle. Employers are empowered to direct the case and instruct the carrier as to the level of investigation and intrusion we feel is necessary. Remember, it is our money that pays the premium.

The primary reason that the carriers have had so much power is that the employers have given it to them as "the experts". Employers pay them a huge share of their working budget, then hand over more by giving them total control over the cases. This is not to say that the carriers have no place; I just think they have been given too large a role. I would argue that adjusters could do a much better job if employers would step up and do their part of the job in-house. I believe the system would run a thousand times more smoothly and there would be more control on abuses from all sides - if all sides were pro-actively involved.

The workers' compensation coordinator makes certain that necessary payroll information is routed to the carrier so that their administrative functions are carried out as expeditiously as possible and our employee does not get inaccurate or delayed Temporary Disability if they have to be off work for a period of time. The more involved we are as employer, the more control we maintain and the more cost containment we can achieve.

If our employee feels that he or she is being taken care of personally, medically and financially they will not be motivated to seek out the advice of an attorney, or another physician.

An additional benefit of having your own advocate within the company is that the employee has someone they trust to contact who can answer their questions. Work comp has its own language and can be very confusing to the lay person. A busy adjuster with a caseload of 200 or more may not have time or desire to explain a complicated legal issue to a carpenter's satisfaction. An employer with a vested interest in the carpenter who has worked for the company for years and knows the carpenter will be coming back to work soon will want to take the time to make sure he understands. The work comp coordinator has both the time and the motivation to spend the time with the employees because it best serves the company to do so.

The final installment will review maintenance of the employer/employee relationship for the small business that cannot afford a full time work comp coordinator.

Article series by employer's workers'compensation consultant Linda Benoit. Linda has been in the Work Comp field for 20 years as a paralegal, in medical administration and as a Work Comp Coordinator and has worked as a consultant since 1989. Contact Linda at lindaraeb@earthlink.net, or by phone at (530)432-4397.