Self-Insurer May 2013 by SIPC

Controllingobesity-related workers’compensationcosts Clearly, workers’ health is not only a concern for the sake of employee well-being, but also for the health of the companies for which they work. high claims costs affect workers’ compensation costs and for self-insured employers, this has a direct impact on the bottom line. Though employers may look for immediate “triage” level results, the best way to fight obesity is to prevent it from happening in the first place. employers should carefully evaluate their employee population to determine if they might benefit from wellness programs as part of overall benefit package. Wellness programs vary in scope and focus, but human resources managers are in a good position to offer relevant advice. Case managers can also help identify potential wellness target goals around which to build a healthier employee base, with the goal of lowering costs across multiple coverage lines. using the example of obesity statistics for claims cost drivers, a simple target goal of getting employees moving more frequently can be addressed with a time-limited contest that groups employees into teams, wearing pedometers and measuring number of steps over this time frame. Positive results can help improve risk factors for comorbidity issues,

May 2013

The Self-Insurer

such as circulation, improved cardiac function, decrease in blood pressure and resting heart rate and lower BMI. The program options are numerous, but the key is to make employee participation voluntary and positive. Of course the ultimate benefit is a healthier employee base utilizing fewer medical services for chronic conditions and injury treatment. In many organizations, it is difficult for human resources and risk management to intersect because of separate budgets, focuses and approaches. But risk managers have a role in understanding and changing why the employee population is getting hurt, how badly they get hurt and the length of time it takes to recover. This means looking at preventative safety measures with an eye to comorbidities. For example, are workers with obesity being provided chairs of the correct size or ladders of appropriate weight load restrictions? Case management firms are increasingly becoming part of the workers’ compensation risk management team because they have unique insight into claim-driving problem areas. Though case managers have always been utilized to some narrow or piecemeal degree, their true strength lies in developing plans that mitigate costs associated with problem areas. Strategically utilized case management helps identify not only cost drivers for the claims, but

safety issues that can be taken into account by the overall safety initiatives to reduce future costs, prevent future claims and improve the bottom line. The intersection of employees’ health, workplace safety and workers’ compensation claims helps provide the understanding necessary for the early interventions that mitigate the risks of obesity and other comorbidities. n Mary Anne Hawrylak is the founder and president of The Kingstree Group Inc., a disability management firm serving clients in all 50 states that focuses on achieving positive outcomes and meaningful savings for its clients. Since its founding in 1998, The Kingstree Group has distinguished itself by offering early intervention and medical triage as standard practice, ensuring workers’ compensation costs are cut, programs are managed and loss ratios improved. More information about The Kingstree Group can be found at www.kingstree.net or by calling (610) 254-9050. references Duke university, rTI International and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [www.ajpmonline.org/article/S07493797(12)00146-8/fulltext] 2010 Duke-led study on the costs of obesity in the workplace [http://globalhealth.duke.edu/ news-events/featured-stories/obese-workerscost-workplace-more-than-medical-expensesabsenteeism] later Duke study [http://globalhealth.duke. edu/news-events/featured-stories/obeseworkers-cost-workplace-more-than-medicalexpenses-absenteeism] About half of all workers’ compensation claims (for workers obese and non-obese) are appropriated to pay indemnity benefits, which are paid to an injured worker as compensation for lost income. [http://blog. reduceyourworkerscomp.com/2010/10/ understanding-indemnity-benefits-lost-wages-inworkers-compensation/#axzz2eklz1Tgt] A report released earlier this year by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). [www.ncci.com/nccimain/ industryinformation/researchoutlook/ pages/indemnitybenefitduration-obesity. aspx?s=Indemnity%20and%20Obesity] NCCI report on comorbidities and workers’ compensation [www.ncci.com/documents/ research-Brief-Comorbidities-in-WorkersCompensation-2012.pdf]