October 12 – October 13, 2006
October 12-13, 2006 ~ A policy symposium
Co-Chairs
Christine Baker, Executive Officer, California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation
Edward M. Welch, Director, Workers’ Compensation Center, Michigan State University
Since the early 1990s, workers’ compensation costs as a share of employer payrolls dropped 20 percent for the nation as a whole, while benefits dropped 33 percent. At the same time, the share of payments that went for medical care rose. In state after state, employers and policymakers worry that the work injury program is out of control. California accounts for nearly one fourth of U.S. spending on workers’ compensation. Major reforms in 2003-2004 sought to control costs and improve health care for injured workers in California. How are the reforms working? This policy symposium assessed national trends in health care and income benefits for injured workers and discussed policy insights from recent changes in California and other states.
Click on the session title below for presentations and transcripts from each session. A full transcript is available for download at the bottom of this page.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Registration/Continental Breakfast
Welcome: Lawrence H. Thompson, Chair NASI Board
I. What’s Happening in Workers’ Compensation?
Moderator: Ann Clayton, Senior Consultant, Clayton and Associates
What Challenges Do Employers Face in Delivering Cash Benefits and Medical Care?
Bob Steggert, Vice President, Casualty Claims, Marriott International, Inc.
Do Injured Workers Need A Bill of Rights?
Edward Welch, Director, Workers’ Compensation Center, Michigan State University
Art Wilcox, Public Employee Division Director, New York State AFL-CIO
Bob Malooly, Assistant Director, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
Paul Rodliff, Senior Vice President, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
II. Issues and Innovations in Wage-Replacement Benefits
How Adequately Do Benefits Replace Lost Wages for Injured Workers?
Allan Hunt, Assistant Executive Director, Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
New Empirical Methods to Tie Partial Disability Benefits to Lost Wages
Robert Reville, Director, Institute for Civil Justice, RAND (Presented by Frank Neuhauser, Survey Research Center, University of California, Berkeley)
Angie Wei, Legislative Director, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
Bill Zachry, Vice President, Corporate Workers’ Compensation, Safeway, Inc.
Preventing Needless Work Disability by Helping People Stay Employed
Jennifer Christian, M.D., President and Chief Medical Officer, Webility Corporation
III: How Do California Reforms Affect Cost, Access, and Quality of Medical Care In
Workers’ Compensation?
Moderator: Jay S. Himmelstein, M.D., MPH, Director, Center for Health Policy and Research, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Overview: The California Problems and Reforms
Barbara Wynn, Senior Health Policy Researcher, RAND
Initial Impacts on Costs and Access to Health Care
Michael Nolan, President, California Workers’ Compensation Institute
Assessing Effects on Quality of Care
Teryl Nuckols Scott, M.D., MSHS, Health Services Researcher, RAND
Panelists:
Bernyce Peplowski, M.D., Medical Director, Zenith Insurance Company
Doug Kim, Legislative Advocate, Green & Azevedo
Tom Rankin, Past President, California Labor Federation and Visiting Scholar, Institute for Industrial Relations, University of California, Berkeley
IV: Preparing for Catastrophes in the Workplace
Moderator: Christine Baker, Commission on Health, Safety and Workers’ Compensation
John Howard, M.D., Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Irv Rosenthal, Senior Fellow, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Robert Snashall, Counselor at Law and Founder, Snashall Associates
James Macdonald, Director, Insurance & Reinsurance, Navigant Consulting
Reception
Friday, October 13, 2006
Continental Breakfast
V: How Does the Safety Net Fit Together?
Moderator: Jackie Nowell, Director of Occupational Safety and Health, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
How Often Do Workplace Injuries Go Uncompensated?
Les Boden, Professor, Boston University School of Public Health
How Do Changes in Workers’ Compensation Affect Social Security Disability Claims?
John Burton, Professor Emeritus, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers
How Do Workers’ Compensation And Short-Term Disability Programs Overlap?
Frank Neuhauser, Survey Research Center, University of California, Berkeley
How Are Medicare Secondary Payer Rules Working?
Edward Welch, Michigan State University
VI: How Can We Better Coordinate Care for Ill, Injured, and Disabled Workers?
Moderator: Lee Goldberg, Policy Director, Long Term Care Division, Service Employees International Union
Are Workers More Likely to Claim Workers’ Compensation If They Lack Health Coverage?
Darius Lakdawalla, Robert Reville, Seth Seabury, Institute for Civil Justice, RAND
Disability Benefits 101: Securing Health Coverage and Working with a Disability
Bryon MacDonald, World Institute on Disability, Berkeley
New Experiments in 24-Hour Health Coverage for Service Workers
Christine Baker, California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation
Douglas Benner, M.D., Kaiser Permanente
Closing Remarks