Don’t pay any group rating invoices yet
You may have received a renewal invoice from your current group rating TPA. DON’T PAY IT YET!
Until further notice, the BWC has forbidden sponsors and TPAs from providing any discount levels and projected savings in their communications with customers and prospects.
Without a discount level, you can’t know whether your current group rating program will be the best for you next year. Are you really sure that your company will be eligible for group rating next year? If you pay now, can you get a refund if you change to a different group or the TPA doesn’t have a group for your company? Three years ago, the BWC instituted a break even factor that eliminated groups with discounts less than 30%. Don’t gamble by paying a fee for a service that may not be available.
The BWC is deciding whether to continue with 51% as the maximum discount. And it is reviewing all its employer incentive programs, including whether to continue “stacking” programs for additional discounts.
The renewal invoice you receive should indicate 2012-2013. If the invoice doesn’t say what services it includes or what period of time it covers, don’t pay it. (If your accounts payable person routinely pays invoices that are not specific, you have a bigger problem than just getting the best group rating discount!)