Workers' Comp Issues to Watch in 2015

Tis the season for reflections on the past and predictions for the future. As we kick off 2015, here are my thoughts on the workers' compensation issues to watch this year. What Does TRIA’s Non-Renewal Mean for Workers’ Compensation? Thanks to congressional inaction, a last-minute rewrite added this subject to the issues for this year. I’m not about to predict what Congress will do with TRIA legislation in 2015, as there are no sure things in the legislative process. We have already seen the reaction from the marketplace. Back in February 2014, carriers started issuing policies that contemplated coverage without the TRIA backstops. We saw some carriers pull back from certain geographic locations, and we also saw some carriers change the terms of their policies and only bind coverage through the end of the year, giving themselves the flexibility to renegotiate terms or terminate coverage if TRIA wasn't renewed. But while some carriers pulled back in certain locations, others stepped up to take their place. While some carriers tied their policy expiration to the expiration of TRIA, other carriers did not.  Going forward, some employers may see fewer carrier choices and higher prices without the TRIA backstop, but ultimately most employers will still be able to obtain workers’ compensation coverage in the private marketplace. Those that cannot will have to turn to the State Fund or assigned risk pool. Rising Generic Drug Prices The opioid epidemic, physician dispensing and the increased use of compound drugs are issues the industry has faced for years. While these issues continue to be a problem, I want to focus on something that is getting less attention. Have you noticed that the costs for generic prescription drugs are increasing, sometimes significantly? In the past, the focus was on substituting generic drugs for brand names, which provided the same therapeutic benefit at a fraction of the costs.  But now the rising costs of these generic medications will drive costs in 2015. These price increases are being investigated by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and Congress, but I do not expect this trend to change soon. Medical Treatment Guidelines Another issue to watch on the medical side is the continued development of medical treatment guidelines and drug formularies in states around the country. This is a very positive trend and one that our industry should be pushing for. There is no reason that the same diagnosis under workers’ comp should result in more treatment and longer disability than the same condition under group health. One troubling issue that I see here is the politics that come into play. Sorry, but I do not accept that human anatomy is different in California or Florida than in other states. I feel the focus should be on adopting universally accepted treatment guidelines, such as Official Disability Guidelines, or “ODG,” rather than trying to develop state-specific guides. The ODG have been developed by leading experts and are updated frequently. State-based guidelines often are influenced by politics instead of evidence-based medicine, and they are usually not updated in a timely manner. How Advances in Medical Treatment Can Increase Workers’ Comp Costs There is one area in which advances in medicine are actually having an adverse impact on workers’ compensation costs, and that is in the area of catastrophic injury claims. Specifically, I’m referring to things such as brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and severe burns. Back in 1995, Christopher Reeve suffered a spinal cord injury that left him a quadriplegic. He received the best care money could buy from experts around the world, and he died less than 10 years after his injury.  But as medicine advances, we are now seeing that a quadriplegic can live close to normal life expectancy if complications can be avoided. Injuries that used to be fatal are now survivable. That's great news. The downside for those paying the bills is that surviving these injuries is very costly. The cost of catastrophic medical claims used to top off around $5 million, with a $10 million claim being a rarity. Now, that $10 million price tag is becoming more the norm. The Evolving Healthcare Model For years, workers’ comp medical networks focused on two things: discount and penetration.  Sign up as many physicians as you can as long as they will agree to accept a discount below fee schedule for their services. I’m happy to say that we are slowly, finally, evolving away from that model. Payers are realizing that a better medical outcome for the injured worker results in lower overall workers’ compensation costs, even if that means paying a little more on a per-visit basis. We are now seeing larger employers developing outcome-based networks, not only for workers’ compensation, but for their group health, as well. Employers are also starting to embrace less traditional approaches such as telemedicine. Finally, more and more employers are recognizing the importance that mental health plays in the overall wellness of their workforce. In the end, we are slowly starting to see is a wellness revolution. The Need for Integrated Disability Management The evolving healthcare model is tied directly to an evolving viewpoint on disability management. More employers are realizing the importance of managing all disability, not just that associated with workers’ compensation claims. Employees are a valued asset to the company, and their absence, for any reason, decreases productivity and increases costs. I feel this integrated disability management model is the future of claims administration. Employers who retain risk on the workers’ comp side usually do the same thing with non-occupational disability. These employers are looking for third-party administrators (TPAs) that can manage their integrated disability management programs. And make no mistake: Having an integrated disability management program is essential for employers. Human resource issues such as the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) cross over into the workers’ compensation realm. The same interactive process required on non-occupational disability is required in workers’ compensation. Employers must be consistent with how they handle any type of disability management, regardless of whether the cause is a workers’ compensation injury or non-occupational. Will We See a Push for 'Opt Out' in Other States? Most people know that non-subscription, or opt out, has been allowed in Texas for many years. The Oklahoma Option that started last year is viewed as a much more exportable version of opt out. Under this system, employers can opt out of workers’ compensation, but they must replace it with a benefit plan that provides the same (or better) benefits available under traditional workers’ compensation. While some view the Oklahoma Option as the start of an opt-out revolution, it is just too early to tell what impact it will ultimately have. But, make no mistake, discussions about opting out are spreading to other states. A group called the Association for Responsible Alternatives to Workers' Compensation is currently investigating the possibility of bringing opt out to other states. I expect to see opt-out legislation in a handful of other states in the next three to five years. Marijuana Marijuana legislation is a very hot topic these days.  In national polls, the majority of Americans favors legalization of marijuana in some form.  Recreational use of marijuana is now legal in four states (Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska), and 23 states allow medical marijuana. When it comes to workers’ compensation, much of the attention has been focused on medical marijuana as a treatment option for workers’ comp because a judge in New Mexico allowed this last year. My concern is around employment practices. Employment policies around marijuana have been centered on the fact that it is illegal, so any trace in the system is unacceptable. That is going to change. I fully expect the government to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II in the next few years. When that happens, zero-tolerance policies in the workplace will no longer be valid. Instead, the focus will have to be like it currently is with alcohol: whether the person is impaired. The Next Pandemic Another hot topic these days is Ebola. While the threat from this particular disease seems to be subsiding, the concerns about Ebola last year showed we are not ready for that next pandemic. People who were exposed to the disease were allowed to interact with the general population and even use commercial travel. Government agencies debated whether travel to certain countries should be limited. The problem is, diseases don’t wait for a bureaucracy to make decisions. While this threat didn’t materialize, you can see how easily it could have. With work forces that travel around the globe, the threat of a global pandemic is very real. You know where you send your workers as part of their job, but do you know where they go on vacation? As an employer, are you allowed to ask about what employees do during their personal time? Are you allowed to quarantine an employee who traveled to an infected country during vacation? These are very complex legal questions that I cannot answer, but these are discussions we need to be having. How do we protect our employees from the next pandemic? Rates and Market Cycle You cannot have a discussion around issues to watch without talking about insurance premium rates in workers’ compensation. After several years of increasing rates around the country, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is projecting that, in 2014, workers' compensation combined ratios were below 100% for the first time since 2006. This means that, as an industry, writing workers’ compensation is profitable again. So what should buyers expect in 2015? Well, it depends. California continues to be a very challenging state for workers’ compensation costs. New York is challenging, as well. Given the percentage of the U.S. workforce in those two states, they have significant influence on the entire industry. Some employers will see rate reductions this year, and some will not. In the end, your individual loss experiences will determine what happens with your premiums. That seems to be the one constant when it comes to pricing. Employers with favorable loss experiences get lower rates, so it pays to stay diligent in the areas of loss prevention and claims management. Will We See More Constitutional Challenges Similar to Padgett in Florida? While I don’t think the Padgett case will be upheld on appeal, I am concerned that the case is the first of many similar ones we could see around the country. Look at the main arguments in Padgett: The workers’ compensation system is a grand bargain between injured workers and employers. Workers gave up their constitutional right to sue in civil courts in exchange for statutorily guaranteed, no-fault benefits. Over the last 20 years, many workers’ comp reform efforts around the country have focused on lowering employer costs. Standards of compensability have been tightened. Caps have been put on benefits. The judge in Padgett looked at these law changes and ruled that workers’ compensation benefits in Florida had been eroded to the point where it was no longer a grand bargain for injured workers. He ruled that the workers’ compensation statutes were unconstitutional on their merits because the benefits provided are no longer an adequate replacement for the right to sue in civil court that that the workers gave up. Attorneys tend to mimic what succeeds in other courts, so I expect we are going to be seeing more constitutional arguments in the future. Impact of the Evolving Workforce One of the biggest issues I see affecting workers’ compensation in 2015 and beyond is the evolving workforce. This takes many forms. First, we are seeing technology replace workers more and more. When was the last time you went to a bank instead of an ATM? I have seen both fast food and sit-down restaurants using ordering kiosks. Also, we are seeing more use of part-time vs. full-time workers. Some of this is driven by concerns around the Affordable Care Act. But part-time workers also have fewer human resource issues, and their use allows employers to easily vary their workforce based on business needs. Unfortunately, part-time workers are also less-trained, which could lead to higher injury frequency. Finally, the mobile work force is also creating concerns around workers’ compensation. Where is the line between work and personal life when you are using a company cell phone, tablet or computer to check e-mails any place, any time? Where do you draw the line for someone who works from home regularly? There have been numerous court cases around the nation trying to determine where that line is. This is a very complex and evolving issue. To view a webinar that goes into these topics in more detail, click here: https://www.safetynational.com/webinars.html