by Gregory B. Cairns, Esq.
Cairns Nemechek & Magruder, LLC

During nearly twenty-five years of legal practice, I have represented hundreds of employers, insurance companies, third party administrators, excess carriers and consulting companies who have wrestled with the ever-increasing costs of workers’ compensation. I have handled nearly 3,000 workers’ compensation cases, and have tried approximately 500 of them. In the course of my practice, especially with self-insured employers, I have had to learn about the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Older Workers’ Protection Act, Title VII, and many other employment laws and cases. Based on this experience, I have come to learn that workers’ compensation programs with the lowest costs and least litigation have ten basic components, as described below.

By Cynthia N. Gallaher
Vice President of Marketing
Worksteps, Inc.

Regulations being imposed on employers by the Americans’ With Disabilities Act (“ADA”), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), and the newly enacted Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (“OSHA”) Ergonomic Standard are making employers more accountable for worker safety and forcing them to be much more exact about job requirements and the policies and procedures that govern job processes. Under the ADA, in order to be legally compliant, all employment decisions regarding hiring, health maintenance, rehabilitation, and disability must be based on actual job requirements. In order to implement effective and legally compliant prevention, injury management, transitional duty, and return-to-work programming, employers should consider documenting functional job requirements and incorporating them into written job descriptions. Accurate job descriptions play a critical role in helping employers make fair and objective decisions regarding issues involving their employees.

by Bruce Smiley, Sr. VP
Indiana Health Network

Direct electronic data interchange (EDI) transfer of claims is something we are beginning to take for granted in the health benefits arena. EDI, however, is an untapped resource in the workers’ compensation arena that could revolutionize the ability to more effectively utilize PPO networks.

by Ward Dye
Vice President
Qmedtrix

For most consumer services, the assumption is that charges should be based on cost plus a reasonable profit. Many current health care charges, however, bear no resemblance to the cost of delivery. Why?

Coalition America, Inc. (CAI) is pleased to announce its partnership with Bloodhound Technologies, an industry leader in designing effective solutions for problems in the claims payment process.