Posts Tagged ‘insurance’

Ebola, Workers Comp, worker safety & other insurance considerations: an A to Z industry round up

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2014

What’s the verdict on Ebola and workers’ comp? We’ve gathered a roundup of what industry leaders are saying on this topic, as well as broader insurance issues. While Ebola and workers comp claims might be a relatively negligible issue, the larger issue of protecting workers from infectious disease is always one worth considering. Plus, there are other ways that Ebola may impact the business environment in general and business insurance specifically: business travel, supply chain disruptions, business interruptions, liability, malpractice and new coverage options, to name a few considerations.
Workers at highest risk would be health care and humanitarian workers in the countries most directly affected, Here in the U.S., hospital staff, public health personnel, humanitarian workers and first responders would be on the front lines for any additional outbreaks. Other workers with potential exposure might include waste disposal workers, cleaning staff, morticians, laboratory researchers and scientists, airline workers and business travelers.
Before we look at some of the insurance and prevention considerations, a little perspective from Vox by way of a brief and compelling video.
But remember, when you scare people enough, facts don’t always matter. Case in point: A Maine teacher who was placed on leave after visiting Dallas — even though she had no contact whatsoever with anyone associated with the Ebola outbreak. Journalist Maryn McKenna logs more Ebola overreactions under the category of Ebolanoia on her blog “Further Adventures of Germ Girl.” (Her articles on Ebola at Wired at worth following.)
Ebola, Workers Comp & Other Insurance Considerations
Christopher J. Boggs of Insurance Journal takes a nuts & bolts look at the two-part litmus test of compensability under workers comp and how Ebola claims would stack up in Is Ebola Compensable Under Workers’ Compensation?
Dave DePaolo looks at Ebola & Work Comp and expresses concern about our capacity to handle an outbreak, noting that “If ever there was a situation where there should be no distinction between workers’ compensation medical treatment and general health, the current Ebola situation is it. Delivery of medical care in workers’ compensation is just fine for broken bones, even for something like black lung disease.
The way medical care in workers’ compensation is delivered creates a real, and significant, national health problem when confronted with a potential pandemic like Ebola.”
Katie Siegel of Risk & Insurance says that although risk to US health care workers remains low, an Ebola outbreak could pose a workers’ comp risk to the industry: Ebola’s Impact on the Health Care Industry
MARSH offers an overview of Six Types of Insurance Coverage That May Apply to Ebola, with workers’ comp at the top of the list.
Dr. Steven N. Weisbart, CLU discusses the insurance industry ramifications of the spread of the Ebola virus, from life/health implications to property/casualty in Insurance Information Institute: Facts and Perspectives on the Ebola Pandemic .
Logan Payne of Lockton has issued a whitepaper, Ebola Outbreak: Risk Management and Insurance Considerations. He looks at the real impact on companies with operations in the affected areas: “…oil and gas operators, mining companies, and humanitarian aid organizations as well as those who rely on the raw materials or commodities in the area. The outbreak of Ebola has caused curfews to be enforced in countries like Liberia as well as voluntary evacuation of employees by many companies, causing work sites and retail locations to completely cease operation. Global supply chains have been disrupted as ports and borders are partially or completely closed, and companies across Western Africa have closed their doors. In general, many companies have seen an abrupt halt in productivity coupled with a rise in prices for many critical services in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.”
Melissa Hillebrand of PropertyCasualty360 offers a list of what you may not know ib 30 Ebola facts that will make you cringe, plus 7 ways to manage the risk. She covers how how the Ebola virus impacts economies and supply chains, insurance issues including evacuation, exposures and policy exclusions, and what you and your companies can do to prevent and control Ebola risk.
Arthur D. Postal of Property Casualty 360 looks at what Ebola will mean for the P&C industry over the long term.
At Business Insurance, Douglas McLeod says that Ace excludes Ebola claims for some new and renewal general liability policies. Sarah Vesey discusses new insurance coverage options related to Ebola: Brokers launch business interruption cover for Ebola, other pandemics
Related: Ebola: Insurance’s new way to deal with an outbreak and Businesses wrestle with insurance in Ebola’s wake
Joe Palazzola of the Wall St Journal Lawblog explains why Ebola suits against Texas Hospital likely wouldn’t be easy to win.
Thomas Benjamin Huggett of Littler looks at The Ebola Exposure: U.S. Workplace Considerations
Michael Oliver Eckard and Jean Kim of Ogletree Deakins discuss Emerging Concerns for Healthcare Facilities and Employers
General Information on Ebola
CDC: Ebola
Facts, FAQs, signs & symptoms, transmission, prevention, treatment, clinical guidance, updates & more
WHO: Ebola Virus Disease
Here’s how you can (and can’t) get Ebola
15 charts, maps, and photos that explain the Ebola outbreak
Worker Health & Safety
National Institutes on Health: Ebola Virus Disease: Information for U.S. Healthcare Workers
NYCOSH: Essential Information for Aircraft Cabin Cleaners and Cargo Handlers
NIH: Guidance for Safe Handling of Human Remains of Ebola Patients in U. S. Hospitals and Mortuaries
CDC: Health care workers: Could it be Ebola?
CDC: Detailed Hospital Checklist for Ebola Preparedness
MA Nursing Association- Ebola: Screening and Managing a Patient While Protecting Yourself
OSHA: Ebola
WHO: Ebola Virus Disease: Occupational Safety and Health – joint WHO/ILO briefing note for workers and employers
NYCOSH: Essential Information for Workers
Ebola Medical Waste Management
Travel health notices
Infectious Diseases Related To Travel
In closing, Josh Cable of EHS Today reminds us that risk is relative. He offers a gallery of Safety and Health Threats that Are Deadlier than Ebola

Too Much Sitting Plus Comorbidities = Big Trouble

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

For those who seek risk conundrums, workers comp is fertile ground. From a micro perspective, the unfortunate Ronald Westerman, a paramedic for a California ambulance company, embodies many of the elements that result in sleepless nights for claims adjusters and actuaries: Westerman had an inordinately long commute (2.5 hours each way!), a sitting job with periodic lifting (inert patients and medical equipment), along with the comorbidities of hypertension, obesity and diabetes. In two years of ambulance work, Westerman gained 70 pounds, thereby compounding the co-morbidity issues.
In March 2009 Westerman returned home from a 36 hour shift and suffered a stroke. His doctor determined that the stroke was work related and that Westerman was permanently and totally disabled. He was 50 years old. While there was some dispute over the cause of the stroke, an independent medical evaluator surmised that it was caused by a blood clot moving through a hole in Westerman’s heart to his brain, otherwise known as in-situ thrombosis in his lower extremities – a direct result of too much sitting. (We blogged a compensable fatality from too much sitting here.)
At the appeals level, compensability centered on the performance of a shunt study – an invasive test – that would have determined whether the blood clot caused the stroke. Westerman was willing to undergo the test, but his wife refused to authorize it, due to his fragile health. If there was no hole near the heart, the entire theory of compensability would be disproven; the stroke would not have been work related.
Had the defense attempted to force the test issue, it would have given rise to yet another conundrum: was refusing an invasive test the equivalent of “unreasonable refusal to submit to medical treatment”? Indeed, does a diagnostic test, by itself, meet the definition of “treatment”? Fortunately for Westerman, the defense requested – but did not attempt to require – the shunt test.
Managing Comorbidities
Our esteemed colleague Joe Paduda, who blogs over at Managed Care Matters, provides the macro perspective, one which is unlikely to aid in the sleep patterns for actuaries. He reports on the impact of comorbidities on cost from the recent NCCI conference:

The work done by NCCI was enlightening. 4% of all claims (MO and LT) between 2000 – 09 had treatments, paid for by workers comp, for comorbidities, with hypertension the most common. These claims cost twice as much as those without comorbidities [emphasis added].

It is beyond doubt that comorbidities make work-related injuries more expensive. But what, if anything, can claims managers do about this? In the Westerman case, there is not much to be done, as the stroke resulted in a permanent total disability. But in other cases where there is a path to recovery and even return to work, adjusters should flag these claims for early, intensive intervention, including psychological counseling and support for weight loss and other life style adjustments. To be sure, this would increase the upfront costs, but these steps just might go a long way toward mitigating the ultimate cost of the claims.
As is so often the case in workers comp, it’s “pay me now” and “pay me later.” To which I can only say to my claims adjuster and actuary friends, “sweet dreams!”

Volcanoes and insurance issues

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010


Because of their rarity, volcanic eruptions are a pretty interesting insurance topic, so on the “thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone” principle, we thought we’d stray a bit afield today. Mother nature has reminded us who’s boss in a truly spectacular display of muscle flexing that’s brought travel and commerce to an unprecedented standstill for a huge part of the globe.
As an insurance event, it may not prove to be as costly as one might think, given the havoc that it is wreaking on business and travel – estimated at $2 billion and counting. Most airlines will be absorbing the cost of the delays since there is not actual physical damage to the fleet, and a volcano would be considered an ‘act of God.’ This prompts Vladimir Guevarra of the Wall St, Journal to ask if we might see volcano-related insurance as a new product for the airline industry.
European insurers don’t expect a big hit, largely because business interruption claims are considered unlikely – claims would need to be triggered by actual physical damage. The property and casualty damage from volcanic ash is not expected to be extensive.
For at least one segment of the industry, this is being deemed a significant claims event: Insurance companies that provide trip coverage are being inundated with calls, and they expect to pay out millions in trip claims. For travelers who were insured before April 13, coverage is likely, depending on exclusions, but after April 13, travelers should not expect ash coverage.
Future scenarios
In the great scheme of things, as far as volcanic eruptions go, this is a modest affair. However, there are two scenarios that could raise the stakes. The first is what the effects would be if volcano disruption lasts weeks, months – many are speculating about how the European crisis could play out
The second rather troubling scenario would be if this is a dress rehearsal, which it could well be if history is any guide.

“Eyjafjallajokull has blown three times in the past thousand years,” Dr McGarvie told The Times, “in 920AD, in 1612 and between 1821 and 1823. Each time it set off Katla.” The likelihood of Katla blowing could become clear “in a few weeks or a few months”, he said.

The 1783 eruption was devastating and had a global impact:

A quarter of the island’s population died in the resulting famine and it transformed the world, creating Britain’s notorious “sand summer”, casting a toxic cloud over Prague, playing havoc with harvests in France — sometimes seen as a contributory factor in the French Revolution — and changing the climate so dramatically that New Jersey recorded its largest snowfall and Egypt one of its most enduring droughts.

Despite that sobering thought, Iceland’s glaciers do not pose the most serious risk, according to the Willis Research Network. According to their research, an eruption of Mt. Vesuvias could be devastating, with 21,000 casualties and an economic toll of $24 billion. For some interesting risk-related reading, check out the Willis Research Network report on Insurance Risks from Volcanic Eruptions in Europe.
More volcano resources
Lists of the most deadly and the most costly eruptions
Volcano World
Aerial photo gallery of the Iceland volcano
Another gallery of stunning images
How to pronounce Eyjafjallajokull (video)

Health Wonk Review: Political Convention Style

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

Jaan Sidorov’s posted the Health Wonk Review, Political Convention Style at his Disease Management Care Blog, and it’s a good one. We have three more HWR’s before the election, and I think they will be a very good source of info on the candidate’s health plans. They should be a platform for some spirited debates among some very smart people!
A few financial links:
Freakonomics has a very good, plain-speaking overview on the recent financial upheavals as explained by Douglas W. Diamond Merton H. Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and Anil K. Kashyap, Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Economics and Finance, both of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Countdown to an Insurance Giant’s Collapse – Eric Dash and Andrew Ross Sorkinof the International Herald Tribune offer a close up view of events as they transpired.
Interested in how various newspapers throughout the world are playing the U.S. financial news? You might enjoy Newseum which offers front page snapshots of 690 front pages from 63 countries. It can be an interesting resource when large events occur.

Workers Comp Insider: 5 years and counting!

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Yay us! This month is our 5th year blogging anniversary so we were pleased to be named to Lexus-Nexus Top 25 Blogs for Workers Compensation — and to see a few of our esteemed colleagues on the list, too. We have to laugh because when we started, we weren’t sure we would find enough to post about to make it to year 2, let alone year 5. And back then, the business blogging landscape was pretty thin indeed, so we’d never have foreseen such a robust community emerging for such a niche topic.
You are reading post #934. In the 1680 days we’ve been keeping track, we’ve had 900,000 visits from 600,000 unique visitors. We generally have about 18 to 20 thousand visitors a month, and as would be expected, about 85% of our visitors come from the U.S., but Canada, the UK, and Australia also make a good showing. We’ve had visitors from about 200 countries, including some that challenged our geographic awareness: Kiribati? Burkina Faso? (sidetrack: how many countries can you name in 5 minutes?)
In honor of the event, we thought we’d dish up our top 15 all-time greatest hits. These posts reflect the most searched for topics, as well as the ones that you, our readers, have clicked on the most:

Quo Vadis Alabama?

Monday, August 25th, 2008

It was only a matter of time before the perfect storm hit state employee healthcare. It happened this week, on August 20, in, of all places, Alabama.
By 2011, Alabama employees who are obese, hypertensive, or have high cholesterol or high blood glucose will have to pay $25 more each month for their state health insurance. In 2010, they’ll pay $25 more if they haven’t enrolled in wellness programs to address their health risks.
Alabama has 37,555 active state agency employees covered by the State Employee Insurance Board. In the last ten years state health care costs for these workers have risen 172%. As yet untouched by the new rules are the 222,445 active duty and retired teachers covered by a separate system – the Public Education Employees Health Insurance Plan, but one suspects their time will come. After all, their health care costs have risen 200% in the same period.
To put this in perspective, consider this. Since 1999, Alabama health care and pension costs for all employees, including active and retired teachers, have risen 241%. But state revenues have risen only 67%. When one factors into the mix that:

  • Only two states in the nation have more overweight people than Alabama, and that
  • 43% of Alabama’s state employees are overweight, and that
  • 19% are extremely overweight with body mass index greater than 35, and that
  • Medical costs for the extremely overweight are $1,700 a year higher than for employees of normal weight (body mass index less than 25), and that
  • Current economic indicators do not suggest a rapid rise in state revenues over the next few years, but that
  • Health care annual costs are expected to continue increasing at double digit rates, then
  • It doesn’t take much of a genius to conclude that as time goes by the situation becomes more and more untenable, hence,
  • The unveiling and rapid descent of the economic Hammer of Thor.

You may ask why smokers are not included. Well, they are. Alabama employees who smoke are already charged an extra $22 per month for their health insurance.
Notwithstanding that, obesity is the big killer. As I wrote in a monograph on The Best Health Care in the World that debuted here in the Insider as a 5-part series in March of this year:

Unfortunately, obesity has been shown to be a greater driver of health care and health care spending than alcohol consumption or smoking – “the effects of obesity are similar to 20 years of aging.” According to Thorpe, et al, 27% of the per capita increase in US health care spending between 1987 and 2001 was attributable to obesity. There is a direct correlation between obesity and Type 2 diabetes, obesity and hypertension and obesity and heart disease (the trends in obesity accounted for more than 38% of the increase of diabetes spending and more than 41% of the increase in spending on heart disease since 1987).

It is as yet unknown whether Alabama will assist its 7,100 extremely overweight employees currently at risk for the higher health insurance charges by defraying some or all of the cost of the wellness programs toward which it is now herding them. Also unknown is if and when this surcharge program will be extended to all those teachers, who now pay $134 per month for their share of family coverage, compared to a nationwide average of $273 per month according to a survey by The Kaiser Family Foundation and The Health Research an Educational Trust.
Although one can hardly say that Alabama is noted for leading the national way, one has to ask, “As Alabama goes, can the nation be far behind?”

Cavalcade of Risk and a news roundup

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

Michael Cannon is hosting Cavalcade of Risk this week and he’s posted a diverse collection of risk-related links at The Cato Institute blog – good end of week reading.
Insurance reform – Is insurance due for a regulatory overhaul? The move to an Optional Federal Charter appears to be gathering steam. To help you stay informed on the topic of insurance reform, Networks Financial Institute at Indiana State University has recently launched an online Insurance Regulatory Modernization resource. It is designed to serve as a clearinghouse for resources relevant to insurance regulation and reform.
Health care debate – Kaiser Family Foundation has compiled Viewpoints: The Health Care Debate. This is a series of interviews with leaders of organizations representing health care providers, insurers, policymakers, employers, labor unions and consumers sharing their views on shortcomings in the nation’s health care system and how it could be improved. Interviews are available in video, podcast or transcript formats.
Prescription promos – Merrill Goozner notes that the pharmaceutical industry is trying to eliminate the practice of showering physicians with gifts and trinkets emblazoned with drug brand names. (We’ve previously discussed promotional efforts based on dining and pom poms.) Goozner suggests the voluntary ban should be broader, and notes that it doesn’t get to the most significant ways that drug companies influence doctors. He suggests additional practices that should be banned.
Kudos to Jottings By an Employer’s Lawyer – Michael W. Fox just celebrated his 6 year blogoversary yesterday – his informative and excellent law blog is one of our regular reads – we’re happy he keeps on keeping on. Congrats, Michael!
Physician humor – although we don’t think it is a medical specialty often called upon for work-related injuries, we can’t resist posting the Colorectal Surgeon Song (video). It’s a silly but amusing ditty performed by popular Canadian comic duo Bowser & Blue.

Santa Claus is a risky guy!

Friday, December 21st, 2007

SantaThere’s no two ways about it – Santa is an underwriter’s nightmare. He’s overweight, he drives too fast, and there is some evidence that he is tipping brandy while he drives. Plus he smokes a pipe and eats too many cookies.
Besides all his bad habits, Santa’s job is a nightmare, and he faces a lot of unusual health risks. He is sneezed or coughed on up to ten times a day, and he has been “wet on” in 34% of his mall stops, poor guy! And sometimes, he is even attacked and mauled by his reindeer! (video alert). And an ergonomic risk assessment of Santa’s job turns up a host of other alarming issues that need to be addressed.
Would you insure this guy? One independent insurance agent enumerates Santa’s risks and offers some sound pointers that Santa would do well to heed:

  • Hire a fulltime risk manager, or at least allow his agent to conduct a loss control and safety survey of Santa’s home and workshop.
  • Put together an employee manual and provide instructional DVDs to all supervisors and elves to avoid EPLI claims
  • Expand his in-house manufacturing operation to eliminate the use of sub-contractors and control his liabilities
  • Consider self-insuring some hard-to-place risks in a captive. Bermuda was dismissed as too warm, but Vermont would be acceptable.

 
~~ All of us at Workers Comp Insider wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday season. ~~

Last minute holiday gift ideas for the insurance professional in your life

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

If you haven’t done your holiday shopping for that special actuary or risk manager on your list, never fear! We’ve scoured the Web to bring you a variety of last minute gift suggestions.
You should be able to find something for everyone with this huge selection of insurance-related T-shirts – “Trust me, I sell insurance” for your agent, perhaps? There are more than 290 choices. Or if you are feeling a little more daring, perhaps some “Insurance Is Fun” boxer shorts ?
If you are less into wearables and more into office decor, take your pick from a baker’s dozen of insurance-related throw pillows. We’re not sure if “bind me baby” and “kiss me, I’m all risk” pillows are the best choice for the office, but they are pretty fun.
For those of you who like to give more practical gifts, we recommend some stylish safety glasses or perhaps the ever-popular “Ultimate Hurt” trauma and extrication manikin – good choices for the safety professional on your list!
For the collector, eBay has a good selection of insurance-related ephemera ranging from insurance company mascot toys to promotional calendars and stock certificates.
If you know where to look, there’s really the perfect gift for just about everyone on your list:
For your company physician: Med School in a Box or some giant microbe plushies
For your ergonomist: Lumbar coffee mugs
For your attorney: Something rather practical perhaps? Or the talking professional dolls come in attorney, doctor, judge, and dentist models.
We’re still shopping, so if you have any other insurance-related gift ideas, feel free to offer suggestions!

New York Update: CIRB Kicked to the Curb?

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

That reverberant thud we hear coming out of Albany, NY, is the sound of the other shoe landing. And it’s dropped straight on top of the New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board (CIRB).
In early March of this year, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer signed into law a major and much needed workers’ compensation legislative reform. In February we had discussed New York’s urgent need for reform, and, immediately following the Governor’s signing, we analyzed New York’s reform measure.
There’s no need to rehash the reform here, except to say that the Insider was generally quite supportive of it. We were happy that a number of our suggestions wound up in the reform. However, two sections of the new law carried huge implications and consequences for the Property and Casualty (P & C) insurance industry in New York, and each took dead aim at the future of the CIRB. A reading of these sections suggested that the CIRB’s future may actually be behind it.
The first of the two sections required that the Superintendent of Insurance report on the performance of the CIRB to the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly and the Majority Leader of the Senate by 1 September 2007.

“Such report shall address, among other matters the Superintendent may deem relevant to the compensation insurance rating board including: (1) the manner in which the insurance compensation rating board has performed those tasks delegated to it by statute or regulation; (2) whether any of those tasks would more appropriately be performed by any other entity, including any governmental agency; and (3) the rate-making process for workers’ compensation.”

Then Section 2313, subparagraph S, contained these two gems:

“The workers’ compensation rating board of New York… shall mean the compensation insurance rating board until February first, 2008, and thereafter such entity as is designated by law.”
“…no rate service organization may file rates, rating plans or other statistical information for workers’ compensation insurance after February first, 2008.”

Well, here we are in September and Superintendent Eric Dinallo has issued a whomping, 56-page report (PDF) that, while not killing the CIRB, certainly eviscerates it.
The Current System – Nearly Everywhere
In 39 states, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) gathers loss and premium data, calculates experience modifications, and files rate proposals on behalf of the P & C industry. A few states, such as Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, have independent Bureaus that do the same thing. These Bureaus are funded by the insurance carriers doing business in the states and are governed by committees elected by those insurers. The Bureaus gather and analyze loss data, both current and historic, and file rate proposals with their respective insurance commissioners. Actuaries from both sides testify at public hearings, after which insurance commissioners render decisions about the appropriateness of what the insurers want and establish new rates, which can be higher, lower or, occasionally, exactly what was proposed. Theoretically, this is a system with built in checks and balances where math and science should rule, and it is the way New York’s workers’ compensation system operated until the recent reform.
The Dinallo Report
Superintendent Dinallo proposes scrapping this concept in New York in two ways, one of which we think is fine, the other we find fraught with danger.
First, the Superintendent proposes, quite rightly, we believe, to move to a loss cost system, where insurers, based on their own experience, would file loss cost multipliers that would be applied to the classification rates established by the Superintendent. This would introduce a competitive system already in place in all NCCI states. He proposes that the CIRB continue to gather loss data and calculate mods, because, first, it’s been doing it for more than 90 years and he thinks by now they have the hang of it; and, second, because between now and the sunset date of February 1, 2008 (just a little more than 4 months), there isn’t enough time to bring a new Rate Service Organization (RSO) on line. In short, Dinallo says New York’s stuck with the CIRB at least, in his words, “for the short term.”
Second, Superintendent Dinallo wants to take over the CIRB’s governing committee. This, in my view, is the biggie. Dinallo recommends that the governing committee be reconstituted to include representatives from labor, employers, the State Insurance Fund, and the Insurance Department. Yes, insurers would be on the committee, too, but they would be in the minority. Further, the Superintendent would require that the carriers continue to fund the CIRB, even though they would have little or no control over it. Sort of like the Russian model of requiring the condemned man to pay for the bullets.
Potential Adverse Consequences
This second proposal would eliminate the checks and balances from the system. Further, it could also eliminate actuarial science. New York could wind up with rates being determined by committee, and a politically charged one, at that. Finally, one last elimination might occur: insurers, themselves, who, after attending (in small numbers) that first committee meeting may decide to hop the next train out of town. After all, what member of the reconstituted committee, except for insurers, would ever want to see a rate increase?
In this affair the CIRB has not covered itself with glory. It has shown itself to be politically deficient, and its public relations efforts have been woeful. It has allowed itself and, by extension, the insurance industry, to be maneuvered into playing the role of the villain in this melodrama, and it is now squarely in the cross hairs. Nonetheless, even Superintendent Dinallo grudgingly admits that his every-three-year reviews show that the Board is performing satisfactorily. We believe that the prudent course is for New York to let insurers govern their own Board and to require the Superintendent of Insurance to continue to oversee performance.
We urge that Governor Spitzer and Superintendent Dinallo assure that the New York workers’ compensation playing field remains level and the goalposts where they are.