The State and Federal Labor Law Posters should be arriving in your mail at the end of the month so be watching for them!
By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant
What is a “near miss?” Webster defines it as: “A result that is nearly, but not quite, successful.” What does this mean to business? It simply means that a serious accident almost occurred.
Statistics tell us that for every 300-near misses there is one serious injury. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than threemillion recordable non-fatal injuries were reported in 2013. If we multiply each injury by 300, the result is 900-million near misses for 2013 alone.
As you may recall, last March, the MTMIC Board authorized distribution of $2.5 million of profits to members. The dividend covered policy years 2010 – 2012. The dividend was comprised of two parts:
- Loyalty – how long have you been with MTMIC. All members with coverage during the covered or beginning during the “covered years” and still in force as of February 28, 2015 shared in this dividend part.
- Great loss ratios – accounts with outstanding loss ratios during the “covered years” shared in a second dividend. The end result was an average dividend of 19%. A total of 108 members received a dividend that exceeds 50% of their current annual premium. Yes, that is very cool.
By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims
I’ve written in the past about Fraud in Workers’ Compensation. Types of Insurance Fraud include: Welfare, Unemployment, Mortgage, Automobile, Healthcare, Medicaid, etc.
This year we had our tri-annual State Audit and one of the questions they asked was how we handle fraud. We would first have to define “fraud”. Webster’s dictionary defines fraud as: “intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right”. Per the Insurance Institute of Michigan website, an example of (insurance) fraud (pertaining to Workers’ Compensation) is: exaggerating the extent of a minor injury to collect (W/C) benefits; billing insurance companies for medical services that were not rendered. I think we can take it further. What about alleging a work injury when the injury really occurred outside of work? Or what about the person who alleges their medication was “stolen” and they need another re-fill when the reality is that either they are addicted to the drug or they are selling the pills on the street? What about the person who claims they need “in home assistance” because they are too incapacitated to even make themselves a sandwich? Or how about the person that won’t let the Nurse Case Manager in the examining room so they can tell the doctor how heavy or repetitive their job is, or their pain level is a 14 on a scale of 1 to 10?
It is that time of the year when you will be receiving sales calls informing you that there have been important changes on the State and Federal Labor Law posters.We are aware of those changes and are in the process of compiling these updates ~ please expect your new 2016 updated labor law posters to arrive at the end of December.
By Megan Brown, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
As a followup to all of the announcements and details of our Annual Meeting, I thought that it would be interesting to give you an idea of how it went. We had the largest turnout in our 39-year history and my goal is to carry this momentum into our 40th year. The agenda was packed with presentations from Denise Williams, a Performance Consultant from the University of Michigan who discussed distracted workers and the effects that it has on work productivity. Martha Yoder, the Director of MIOSHA provided proactive approaches to creating a safe and healthful worksite. John Karlen and Chris Doebler presented details on the company overview and financial status. During the meeting, MTMIC also signed the 2016 MIOSHA Alliance which assists our members in raising awareness of MIOSHA’s rulemaking and enforcement initiatives, provide training and education as well as enhance communication and outreach related worker productivity. The food was excellent, the company was great and the meeting ended on time. We hope that you will join us next year.
It is that time of the year when you will be receiving sales calls informing you that there have been important changes on the State and Federal Labor Law posters.
We are aware of those changes and are in the process of compiling these updates ~ please expect your new 2016 updated labor law posters to arrive at the end of December.
By Glenda Moyle, Premium Accounting Manager
Well, we have started working on the January 2016 renewals. I have been working on these for over 30 years and it’s hard to believe that another year has sped by.
If you have an effective date in January, you should have already received your payroll renewal form asking for new estimated payrolls for the 2016 policy year. The goal is to accurately estimate payrolls which reduces the chance of a surprise audit of additional premium.
A common question I hear is what do we do if the payroll estimate form is not returned to MTMIC? Well, we use the higher of your 2014 audited payrolls or your current policy (2015 estimated) payrolls for your quote. It is never too late to send the form back to us. We can always revise your payment schedule.
If you need another copy of the payroll form please contact me at Glenda.moyle@mtmic.com/blog
By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims
If you have ever been involved in litigation, you are aware that the legal process moves at a snail’s pace. Workers’ Compensation litigation is no different. The average litigated case takes approximately 2 years to resolve; that’s resolution without trial. If the case goes to trial, it would be even longer than 2 years. The Workers’ Compensation Agency has now put rules in place in hopes of expediting the process to “18 months”. As an employer, it is understandable how frustrating this can be – we feel your pain! Let me explain what happened on a recent case.
The “alleged” injury “allegedly” occurred on March 25, 2013. After a verbal altercation with a co-worker, the 52 year old employee walked off the job. The employee went to an emergency room the next day and returned to work on March 28, 2013 and proceeded to walk off the job again. The employer informed the employee to report to work on April 1, 2013 if they still wanted their job. Instead, the employee returned to the emergency room on March 31, 2013 and called the employer on April 1, 2013 to advise of the alleged work injury (first notice of claim).
The Claims Department was notified of the incident on April 11, 2013 – 17 days after the date of injury. The insured advised they wanted us to “take a hard line on this” claim. The employee alleged a back injury after lifting a box; names of witnesses were provided. Three witnesses were contacted, and no one knew anything about any type of injury the claimant may have sustained. Medical records were requested from the treating physicians.
Just recently, MTMIC achieved a couple of milestones. For the first time in our nearly 40 year history, we broke through the 800 member mark. Second, MTMIC’s asset value passed the $50 million mark. Both of these results are based on our member’s loyalty and dedicated staff. Building member loyalty comes from two sources. The first source is that we have a dedicated Board of Directors. These board members represent the owners/member’s interests every day and their skillsets built over the years, demonstrates that they know how to create member value by giving staff the freedom and support to improve member services.
The second source that builds member loyalty is the MTMIC staff, which is filled by unusually tenured veterans. One of the most frequent contacts is with Glenda Moyle, the MTMIC Premium Account Manager who handles billing and underwriting service questions. What you may not know, is that Glenda has been with MTMIC (and our previous Trust Fund) for nearly 35 years. She knows most of our members, some of their family, and lots of policy details for most accounts. The next frequent contact is Donna Motley, our Vice President of Claims. With her number two, Cindy Boyce, they both have more than 20 years with MTMIC. Other frequent contacts are with our loss control staff, with Chris Doebler, our CFO, and of course our Marketing Vice President, Megan Brown and Marketing Assistant, Patty Allen. A common thread with all the MTMIC staff, is member commitment and tenure. I have had the privilege of leading this team since August 1, 2013. Our employee turnover rate in 2013 was 0%, 12014 0% and 2015 0%. Yes, I am the newest employee.
The board and staff’s focus has been simple. Make sure that all accounts are funded properly to ensure claim payments and secondly, when there are profits above this funding requirement, those profits are OWNED by our members. In March, $2.5 million was returned to our members. At the October Annual Member’s meeting, we will have the first discussion about the dividend for March of 2016. The Annual Member’s meeting is Thursday, October 15th at 11:30 and will be held at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. I am pleased to pass on these two significant achievements and hope you can attend the Annual Meeting to hear the first words about the 2016 member dividend.
By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant
As a member of the Loss Control Department, I conduct safety tours within different types of facilities that conduct a wide variety of different daily operations. No matter the type of facility, there is one piece of equipment that is always present. This one piece of equipment, while only having a few moving parts, is responsible for a great deal of injuries and fatalities yearly. The piece of equipment I am speaking of is a simple ladder. Ladders, whether step form or extension (single), can be a valuable tool but also an unforgiving one if misused.
Have you registered for the Annual Meeting on October 15th?
Registration is now open.
Please contact Glenda Moyle at
(800) 274-5606 ext. 1315
with questions.
We look forward to seeing you there
The MTMIC Board of Directors is made up of 9 member owners that are from large, medium and small companies. Their individual companies duties consist of: Five of the nine are business owners, two are Chief Financial Officers, one a firm’s Human Resource VP and one is a retired shop owner. These Board members’ businesses receive the same benefits as your company when dividends are declared. As expected, their first obligation is to make sure the financial condition of the company is secure before dividends are declared.
At the August MTMIC Board meeting, Chris Doebler, our Chief Financial Officer reviewed our financial numbers through the first half of 2015. Let me share a couple of the numbers with you:
(Year over year)
- Number of Members: 771 – an increase of 3.6%
- Revenue: $9,438,000 – an increase of 3.2%
- Profit: $1,265,000
By Ruth Kiefer, Loss Control Manager, MSc, ARM
Many of you have been with us for a very long time, and may remember when we first formed our safety alliance with the Consultation, Education, and Training (CET) Division of MiOSHA in 2007. This alliance was created in order to help our policyholders improve their shop safety and provide up-to-date education and safety training from former compliance officers. Who else would know better right?
Since that time, we have conducted over 122 joint visits with CET. Many of you have formed a valuable relationship with them and invite them back on a yearly or bi-yearly basis. Since we have found this to be a positive experience for the majority of our policyholders, we are renewing our alliance once again.
During a regular business week I receive notices from outside vendors, state associations, and government bulletins. Most of the time there is nothing exciting to report from them; but last week I received two that were interesting. The first was a report from the state on the number of time loss injuries for Michigan employees. In 2007, the state recorded 11,262 time loss injuries. Three years later in 2010, time loss injuries had decreased to 9,566. And then in 2013, the number was 7,109. This study goes on to give credit for management’s focus on improved employee risk management, but they also credit changes in the manufacturing process and the reduction of hazardous work. Overall; this data does give us a good story on the improvement in employee safety. I wanted to pass these numbers on to you to give credit for the important role you play.
By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims
On Monday, July 20, 2015, we arrived at work to start another week. Facing us were telephone calls, mail, faxes and e-mail, all part of everyday business. But one of the telephone calls we received relayed upsetting news. Sharon Medwid, one of the owners of Three M Tool & Machine, one of our long time insureds, had a fatal accident. With the exception of a one year break in service, Three M Tool & Machine has been insured with us since 1980. After that length of time, you are more like family. Over the last couple of years, I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Sharon on one or two particular files, so I was able to have multiple, lengthy conversations with her. In my lifetime I have what I consider “favorite people”, and Sharon was quickly added to that list of no more than 10.
The Annual Meeting is October 15th
11:30 am – 2:00 pm
at The Inn at St. Johns
Watch for more information to follow.
On some of my monthly notes, I try to answer questions that I get frequently from members. Here is one topic that comes up a couple times a month from different members. Question: What is the financial stability of MTMIC? Does MTMIC have a “Best” rating? If not, why not?
First, a common measurement of financial strength in the insurance industry is how much surplus a company has. Surplus is the amount of financial cushion a company has in the event that losses exceed the premium. As of March 31, 2015, MTMIC had a surplus account of $17,950,415. Industry experts often say that the ratio of surplus to premium should be one to one. MTMIC has $0.94 that is surplus for every $1 of premium.
By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims
Workers’ Compensation insurance coverage is mandated in the State of Michigan. Even so, Workers’ Compensation is a “benefit” to the employee (and the employer). Employees are “entitled” to medical care and compensation should they have an injury while in the course of employment. But that does not allow the injured worker to have an “entitlement attitude”. Workers’ Compensation is not a “social program”. Benefits are governed by laws that were enacted over 100 years ago. Those laws have been periodically modified to change with the times. When you talk about laws, you are talking about attorneys – hence the modifications! Our success in the Workers’ Compensation courts is strongly influenced by the current political arena in our State at that time.
Employers know the part they play in the process: safety programs, safety training, drug screening, employment physicals, prompt reporting of injuries, accident investigations (and preventions).
By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant
As companies strive to reach customer deadlines, growing production numbers, and do so with the smallest amount of overhead, it is understandable that some of the new ergonomic tools and resources have gone unutilized. While understandable, it is essential to understand how not having those tools in place not only affect your employees in a negative manner, but could also have a large impact on your daily operations.
Upon a review of MTMIC’s current loss run, it shows that of the top 50 lost time injuries, strains account for 46% of them (23 of 50). When looking at the same top 50 lost time injuries, strains accounted for 38% of the total dollars spent on those injuries. That is a sum of $8.6 million dollars. Of the 23 strain injuries, 39% are from the lower back (9 of 23). The sum of those 9 lower back injuries accounts for 50% of the total dollars spent on strains within that top 50 lost time injuries list. That is a staggering 4.0 million dollars spent on just 9 lower back claims.
