If your coverage lapses, see the posts on June 22, 2011 and March 24, 2011 for the consequences of non-payment.

The easiest way to pay premiums is online at www.ohiobwc.com.  On the home page, click on the Quick link to Pay Premium and follow the instructions.  You can use one or more credit cards, or ACH transfer.

You must report all payroll for the second half of 2011, but you can pay 50% of the premium now, and the balance on or before May 31, 2012.

Once you pay online, the BWC will only send a postcard reminder when the next premiums are due.  It will not send a paper Payroll Report (DP-21) form.  You will have to go to the website to see your premium rates and calculate your premiums.

You can mail a check to the BWC in Columbus, but the payment must be RECEIVED by the BWC before the close of business on February 29, 2012.  There is no grace period, and no mailbox rule for the BWC.

Earlier deadlines are to create urgency and are part of the marketing strategy of the group TPAs.  Believe me, if you waited to sign up for group retro in March or early April, you could.

Normally, when I give instructions for navigating the BWC website, I walk through the steps as I write them.  But I already have an e-account and don’t want to create another, so I trust you to follow the prompts.  As I recall, however, the BWC did not tell me the protocol for my ID and password until after the first one was rejected, so be prepared to make changes.

Write down the ID and password and make sure someone else at your company can find them, in case you are unavailable in the future.  Paying premiums late is not in your company’s best interest!

FRAUD ALERT:  E-account access enables you to change the contact information, including phone numbers, email and mailing addresses, and will provide access to the medical records in the claims filed against your company.  Be sure that only responsible and trustworthy persons have access to them.

 The BWC denies that it owes money to the members of the class and denies that its rating system is prejudicial to non-group rated employers.

 Of course non-group rated employers paid higher premium rates than group rated employers.  But the court will decide if it was unlawful and if monies are due to non-group rated employers.

I’m staying in the class, even though I doubt that the BWC will have to pay refunds to non-group rated employers.

But here’s a situation with sole proprietors and partners that is ridiculous, unfair, and a complete waste of time.

As background, you should know that, when calculating premiums, sole proprietors and partners who have elected coverage for themselves have to report a weekly minimum payroll.  The amount of the weekly minimum payroll is printed on the back of the Payroll Report that is sent out every six months.  You multiply the weekly minimum payroll times 26 weeks, multiply that times the premium rate, and then pay that premium amount to the BWC.  You report that supplemental coverage payroll on a separate line on the Payroll Report.

There are two exceptions to the above background:  You have to pay at least $50 every six months even if the premium you calculated is less than that.  And, if you pay online, the BWC doesn’t send a Payroll Report, it sends you a postcard reminding you to pay online.

Nowhere on the webpage where you calculate your premiums does the BWC indicate how much the weekly minimum is.  So, you have no idea whether it has changed since the last time you paid.

Now here’s the really nutty part:  if you don’t REPORT the correct minimum amount, the BWC CANCELS YOUR SUPPLEMENTAL COVERAGE.  It doesn’t matter if reporting the correct amount is STILL less than $50 and you’ve paid $50.  Cancelling the coverage means that the sole proprietor or partner will not be covered in the case of a work related injury.

Adding insult to injury, the sole proprietor or partner has to REAPPLY for supplemental coverage.

If a corporation doesn’t report the correct payroll, the BWC does not cancel coverage.  When an audit reveals incorrect payroll reporting, the corporation gets an invoice and 30 days to pay.  Why are sole proprietors and partners singled out for minimum payroll reporting and cancellation without notice?

Here’s an easy fix:  make sure that the online box for supplemental coverage payroll cannot show less than 26 weeks times the minimum weekly amount.  The BWC could also put the new minimum weekly amount in BOLD on the reminder postcard.

One final thought:  if I don’t reapply for supplemental coverage, will the BWC automatically refund the $50 premium already paid, or would I have to ask for it?

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!)

The BWC worked with the owner but he continued to operate his business without paying its premiums.  The BWC paid for the medical services and compensation for the injured employees.  Those costs were billed to the business, and the owner didn’t pay them either.

The court found the owner guilty of two counts of failure to comply with workers’ comp law.  He was sentenced to 90 days in jail (suspended), one year of active probation and 80 hours of community work service.

Now the BWC is seeking an injunction to make him stop operating the business until he becomes fully compliant with Ohio workers’ comp law.  If the injunction is granted, his employees will be laid off and his customers will go elsewhere.  He won’t have any income from the business, either.  And Ohio employers who pay their premiums will continue to bear the costs of his employees’ claims.

If you know of any workers’ comp premium deadbeats, turn them in!

Make a call to the BWC fraud unit at 800-OHIOBWC or 800-644-6292, and choose option 4.  Or go to www.ohiobwc.com and click on Report Fraud at the bottom of the home page.  You can remain anonymous.

When employers are found guilty, the judges are ordering jail time, probation, payment of back premiums, reimbursement of BWC investigation costs, and fines.

This may sound harsh to any business owner who has ever had occasional cash flow challenges.  But deadbeat employers harm you in two ways.  First, they can undercut their competitors because of their lower costs of doing business.  Second, the cost of claims filed against deadbeat employers are included in the premiums paid by every non-deadbeat employer.

I don’t advocate a business war, but if your competitors don’t pay for workers’ comp coverage, turn them in!

Make a call to the BWC fraud unit at 800-OHIOBWC or 800-644-6292, and choose option 4.  Or go to www.ohiobwc.com and scroll down to Report Fraud at the bottom of the home page.  You can remain anonymous.

The BWC pays the claim costs and then bills the employer for those costs.  If the employer does not pay the bills, the Ohio Attorney General places a lien on the business, which has to be paid before the business can be sold.  Some supplier agreements forbid a company to have liens placed against it.

When an employer has coverage, the initial five years of claim costs are spread out over four years of premiums, and any subsequent claim costs are paid out of the surplus fund. 

The costs for non-compliance claims are billed back to the employer for the life of the claim.  If the injury is severe and the claimant is awarded compensation, the employer pays those costs, too.

The claimant was involved in a motor vehicle accident the weekend before claiming he hurt his low back at work loading a truck.  The medical records showed he gave inconsistent descriptions of how he was hurt.  The BWC disallowed the claim.  The fraud unit investigated.  He pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud for filing a false claim.  The judge ordered him to serve one year on probation and to pay $2,072.31 in investigation costs.

Thought #1:  It’s a minor miracle that the BWC disallowed the claim.

Thought #2:  The employer should have also been reimbursed for its costs in fighting the claim.

Thought #3:  It’s a bad idea to call everyone who files a claim an “injured worker”.  Let’s go back to the original term which was “claimant”.