I’ve been reading a lot this year about new ways to survive in the current economic climate. I am now reading Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin. Here’s a quote from the inside flap. “There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there’s a third team, the linchpins…. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.”
Godin quotes Steve Jobs who said “Real artists ship.” In other words, do your work and send it out into the world. Don’t delay, procrastinate, form a committee, miss your deadline, hide in the crowd instead of standing out from the crowd. Do the work that you are passionate about, that you do as only you can do it. Put your soul into the work that you do.
Godin talks about the current education system that trains us to be consumers and to follow the rules. We are taught that the goal is to not make mistakes, otherwise we won’t get that 100%. We play board games like Candyland, where you draw a card and do what it says. We are taught that if we go to school, get a steady job, buy a house and car and stuff just like everyone else, we will have a good life. That’s the educational system devised by captains of industry decided a century ago. The industrial revolution made it possible to create more goods more quickly, and the factory owners had to create markets for the goods being produced. Henry Ford paid his workers enough so they could afford the cars they were producing. Who else would buy all those cars?
The book is frustrating to read because he doesn’t identify everyone he talks about, doesn’t document his stories, and it often feels like he’s continuing a conversation he had with someone else and he’s letting you listen in. Perhaps the book is a compilation of blog posts. But even though every idea is not explored thoroughly, the ideas are important. Perhaps his style is necessary for this era of information overload.
With the BWC touting “safety” in every program it offers, it’s easy to be confused about which program provides which benefit is to employers.
Safety Council Rebate Program: Employers get a rebate of their premiums when they join the local Safety Council, attend monthly meetings and provide injury statistics to the Council every six months. Rebates are good.
Drug Free Safety Program: This program replaces the Drug Free Workplace Program. Employers get a 3%, 4% or 7% discount stacked on top of their experience modifier (EM). There is paperwork that costs time & money to prepare and implement, although “DFSP employers may apply for reimbursement for specified start-up costs for the first two years of DFSP program operation.” Go to http://www.ohiobwc.com/employer/programs/dfspinfo/dfspdescription.asp for more information. The real downside is that employers will be prohibited from paying salary continuation for claims with dates of injury 1/1/2011 and later. See previous blog post RED FLAG Drug Free Safety Program for examples of how much the premiums are reduced by the discounts.
Group experience rating: This is still the best way to reduce premiums, but each employer has to meet various criteria and deadlines. The BWC now requires 2 hours of safety training on-line or in person for companies participating in group rating.
Group retrospective rating: The 7/1/09-6/30/10 policy year is the first for this program. Employers pay their individual premiums. At the end of 12, 24 and 36 months, the group experience is analyzed and employers either get a rebate because the group performed well, or they get a bill for more premiums due to poor group performance (too many claims). There does not appear to be a safety training requirement for employers in this program, but employers can participate in the Safety Council Rebate Program.
The deadline for enrolling in the Drug Free Safety Program is June 30, 2010. The program used to be called the Drug Free Workplace Program, but is has been renamed to alert you that the program has changed.
RED FLAG: If you enroll in the Drug Free Safety Program starting 7/1/2010, your company cannot pay salary continuation in any claim with a date of injury of January 1, 2011 or later.
The good news is that a company will be able to stay in the program longer than the current 5 years – at least until the BWC changes the program again. If your company was in drug-free and was eliminated after 5 years, it can apply again. There are 2 levels, Basic and Advanced.
Basic level: 4% discount for non-group experience rated employers. The components are similar to the current program, including written policy, testing, education, training and assistance, and the hourly education and training requirements have been reduced. A safety review, and supervisor accident analysis training and accident reporting have been added. If your company will receive a group experience rating discount, it will not get an additional discount for the Basic level.
Advanced level: 7% discount for non-group experience rated employers. Your company must meet all requirements of the Basic level plus 15% random drug testing, safety action plan and a second chance after first positive. A group experience rated employer can stack up to 3% on top of the group discount, as long as the total discount is equal to or less than the maximum discount (currently 49%).
Is a 3%, 4% or 7% discount worth the paperwork hassle and the inability to pay salary continuation?
Here’s an example. A company has yearly payroll of 3.5 million dollars. Without group rating, its EM would be 120. If it enrolled in the Advanced level, its EM would be 113 and its premiums would be $7,400 lower. With group experience rating, its EM will be 83. Enrolling in the Drug Free Safety Program would lower its EM to 80, and reduce its premiums by $3,000. Are those savings in one year worth giving up the ability to control its claims costs in lost time claims?
If you are a very small business, you may think that you want a TPA that “rubber stamps” all treatment requests, because you are the only one who will ever be injured. But beware!
A claim with substantial medical costs could get your company eliminated from group rating in two years.
Here’s an example when rubber-stamping is not a good idea: The employee hurt her shoulder at work. She was seen in the ER and got a diagnosis of strained shoulder. She was then seen by an orthopedist, who recommended 3 weeks of physical therapy (PT), and if no relief, injection into the shoulder. She started PT, and at each follow up visit was seen by a Certified Nurse Practitioner (CNP), who recommended that the PT continue, despite the patient’s complaints that her shoulder felt unstable. The MCO authorized 10 additional PT sessions, but I (the TPA) suggested that the patient be seen by a medical doctor instead. The doctor suspected a tear, and recommended evaluation by a surgeon.
If you were the patient, would you want the MCO to approve all requests, or would you want an MCO to review and actively manage your claim?
Will your company be well served by using an MCO and TPA that are sister corporations?
MCO stands for Managed Care Organization. Its job is to manage the medical care of the injured workers. It is paid a percentage of your premiums, so its financial best interest is to authorize as many treatments as possible.
TPA stands for Third Party Administrator. Its job is to manage all of your claims to keep your premiums as low as legally possible. The TPA should be a watchdog over the medical services authorized by the MCO.
If the TPA and MCO are sister corporations, how likely is it that the TPA will challenge the services authorized by its sister? In my experience, companies that use a TPA and MCO owned by the same corporation will see increases in their claims costs, and may then be eliminated from group rating.
If the TPA offers to manage your claims for a minimal amount, like $75, how likely is it that the TPA will aggressively work to keep your claims costs down? Can a business really be profitable when it gives its services away for such a small amount?