This session will provide an overall economic outlook of the property/casualty insurance industry and will include a high-level look at industry trends and disrupters. The always-popular Robert Hartwig, Ph.D., will provide important insights that will help you manage your company's risk.

Robert Hartwig, Ph.D.

Director, Center for Risk & Uncertainty Management
University of South Carolina

This session qualifies for one FMDC elective or maintenance credit in the Management module.

Workers' compensation Medicare set-asides continue to present challenges for insurers. High WCMSA allocation amounts can complicate claims settlements and even prevent claims closures. However, you often have more power than you think when it comes to reducing allocation costs. It's time to take back control with effective WCMSA cost-mitigation strategies. This session will show attendees how to get back in the driver's seat to reduce WCMSA costs and settle claims. The presenters will discuss the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' allocation approaches; cost drivers; ways to maximize cost savings and reduce allocations; and how to game plan for success.

Mark Popolizio, J.D.

Vice President of Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Compliance
Verisk Casualty Solutions

Sid Wong

Vice President, Policy
Verisk

This session will review complex claims examples and outline cost mitigation strategies and best practices. The presenters will also discuss negotiation strategies and timing recommendations.

Michelle Allan

Principal
Allan Koba Compliance Solutions

Ciara Koba

Principal
Allan Koba Compliance Solutions

In 1980, Congress worried Social Security trust funds were running the risk of being exhausted. Passing the Medicare Secondary Payer Act was meant to be one solution to the exhaustion problem; yet, for years, it was uniformly ignored. In 2001, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services outlined how the act should be implemented in workers' compensation cases. Since then, CMS has produced memoranda and reference guides that almost uniformly have applied to workers' compensation cases. The act, however, applies to liability cases that settle with plaintiffs who are or soon will be Medicare beneficiaries. This presentation will guide the audience through the foundations of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and its implementation evolution. It will also provide best practices recommendations.

Paul Sighinolfi

Senior Managing Director
Ametros

The Indemnity Data Call went live with Q2 2020 data in September 2020. We have now hit IDC's first incentive program, which has been established by the National Council on Compensation Insurance. The incentive program is now in production, which began with Q4 2022 data due to the NCCI by March 31, 2023. This session will examine the NCCI IDC incentive program, identify the components of the program, and discuss consideration points toward improving IDC reporting to avoid potential assessments.

Nicholas Guarda

Client Services Manager
Verisk

This session will help employers, risk managers, attorneys, human resources professionals, and claims professionals understand the why behind the need to educate the workers' compensation industry in a broadened landscape to effectively adjudicate claims and work with injured employee on their road to recovery. This webinar takes the holistic approach through psychology, sociology, organizational development, organizational leadership, and generational differences of employee engagement throughout the insurance industry, specifically, the workers' compensation space.

Dr. Claire Muselman

Principal
CM Advising

Vennela Thumula, Ph.D., from Workers Compensation Research Institute will discuss findings from WCRI's FlashReport "Interstate Variation and Trends in Workers' Compensation Drug Payments: 2018Q1 to 2021Q1." She will address the latest trends in spending, discuss which drug groups make up the most prescription drug payments in workers' compensation, and talk about emerging cost drivers and the impact of physician dispensing. Attendees will learn how payments for the various drug groups differ among the states included in the study and how COVID-19 impacted prescription drug spending.

Dr. Vennela Thumula

Senior Policy Analyst
Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI)

The combination of the "Gray Tsunami" and "Great Resignation" has created a significant people issue for every American business. While COVID exacerbated both, the talent crisis for the insurance industry is not new. Some of the issue has to do with the perception of what the industry does and how it does it. Workers' compensation, for example, is generally perceived as an antagonistic, statutorily driven, complex, paper/process-oriented industry when in reality it is filled with the noble purpose of helping injured employees regain their livelihoods. Empty seats – from adjusters to nurse case managers to salespeople – mean the stress and workload compound for those who remain. Recruitment of new talent and retention of that talent through professional development are challenges for every business that wants to be viable in 2023 much less in 2025 or 2030. This session will offer some insights on how to confront and overcome those challenges.

Mark Pew

Provost & Founding Partner
WorkCompCollege.com

You know the drill - timely payment of benefits; prompt, accurate medical care; forms filed in the prescribed time and manner. During this webinar, attendees will learn about the perceptions those outside the insurance industry have on workers' compensation, common errors and assumptions made by those in the industry, the challenge of legal ethics that can often turn the focus to processes rather people, external factors that can derail the recovery process, common words that can be misconstrued and contribute to negative outcomes, and communication that can influence and facilitate positive recovery outcomes.

Bob Wilson

President
WorkCompCollege.com

Having learned many lessons about the dangers of overprescribing pain medications such opioids, benzodiazepines, and muscle relaxants, the workers' compensation insurance industry has spent the past several years investigating alternatives to managing pain. The highest profile of those alternatives has been the growing use of and payment for medical cannabis, starting in 2014 with the Vialpando v. Ben Automotive Services landmark decision in New Mexico. Many other alternatives are being discussed, including acupuncture, virtual reality therapy, artificial-intelligence-driven software and devices for acute/chronic pain, microdosing psychedelics, telehealth, and selfcare apps. The challenges for insurance professionals are how to decide which ones have evidence-based proof of efficacy, when to use what tools, and how to select from an increasing number of vendors. While this session will not offer opinions on the use of particular modalities, the discussion will provide an overview of each option and best practices for a compare/contrast selection process.

Mark Pew

Provost & Founding Partner
WorkCompCollege.com

You won't want to miss this update on workers' compensation from the perspective of someone who has been a lobbyist, worked for the National Council on Compensation Insurance, and helped run a workers' compensation carrier. Peter Strauss will cover the highlights - and perhaps the lowlights as well - on everything from workers' comp-related legislative decisions to how the pandemic changed the future of injuries, illnesses, and coverage. Strauss will finish the session on a high, though, as he'll discuss the latest on cannabis in the comp industry.

Peter Strauss

Executive Director
Montana Self Insurers Association