Agent News

Please take note of the upcoming rate changes in various states.

Core States

The following core states have a pending rate change. New rates are not yet available in eLink; however, some renewing policies may be viewable in the renewal index. Please refrain from releasing quotes and renewals for these states until rates are updated.

Texas

Effective July 1, 2015, Accident Fund is adopting NCCI’s loss costs in the state of Texas. The voluntary loss costs reflect an overall decrease of 10.9%, but rates will vary by class. New rates became available in our eLink system on March 30.

Accommodation States

Please be sure to discuss pricing options for all new business and renewals with your business development consultant

The Agency Hall of Fame is recognition for those agencies that write the most new business each month. The acknowledgment, given to top agencies in each state, allows us to show appreciation to our agent partners for their efforts.

Arkansas

• Rogers Insurance Agency, Inc., Rogers
• Springdale Insurance, Springdale

Georgia

• Johnson & Bryan, Inc., Atlanta
• Waites & Foshee Insurance Inc., Macon

Illinois

• Nicoud Insurance Services, Springfield
• Southpoint Insurance Agency Inc, Mokena

Indiana

• ISU Stewart Brimner Peters & Co., Fort Wayne
• M.J. Schuetz Insurance Services, Inc., Indianapolis

Iowa

• Mel Foster Co. Ins., Davenport
• PDCM Insurance, Waterloo

Kansas

• Cretcher Heartland, LLC, Overland Park
• Fee Insurance Group, Inc., Hutchinson

Maryland

• Moody & Associates Inc., Germantown
• Sandy Spring Insurance Corporation, Glen Burnie

Michigan

• Goodman Venegas Insurance Agency, Inc., Troy
• Lighthouse Insurance Group, Inc., Grand Rapids

Minnesota

• RJF, a Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC Company, Minneapolis
• Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA Inc., Saint Louis Park

Mississippi

• Bottrell Insurance, Jackson
• Cooke Insurance Center Inc, Hernando

Missouri

• Charles L. Crane Agency Company, Saint Louis
• Nixon & Lindstrom Insurance, Springfield

Nebraska

• INSPRO, Inc., Lincoln
• Ryder – Rosacker – McCue & Huston, Grand Island

North Carolina

• Senn Dunn Ins, a Marsh & McLennan Agcy LLC Co, Greensboro
• SIA Group, Jacksonville

South Carolina

• C. T. Lowndes & Co., Charleston
• Correll Insurance Group, Inc., Spartanburg

South Dakota

• Fischer Rounds & Associates Inc. Mitchell, Mitchell
• Holmes Murphy & Associates LLC, Sioux Falls

Tennessee

• Barnes Insurance Agency, Inc., Pigeon Forge
• Chappell, Smith & Associates, Inc., Franklin

Texas

• InSource Insurance Group LLC, Midland
• Tejas American General Agency LLC, Cedar Park

Virginia

• Chas, Lunsford Sons & Associates, Roanoke
• Towne Insurance Agency, LLC, Virginia Beach

Wisconsin

• Diedrich Agency, Inc., Ripon
• Spectrum Insurance Group LLC, Eau Claire

Legislative Update is a brief synopsis of relevant legislative activity currently taking place in Accident Fund core and accommodation states. For more details or further documentation on any of these legislative activities, contact your business development consultant.

Federal

Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015

According to the 2015 TRIA enacted in January, Treasury and the Federal Insurance Office are required to collect insurance industry terrorism data beginning in 2016. Creating a duplicate or new data reporting process for the federal government could be cumbersome and costly for the industry. Accident Fund Holdings remains engaged with NCCI and our National trade the American Insurance Association (AIA) as they work with NAIC, Treasury and the Federal Insurance Office to identify a solution to the data reporting requirements.

State

Colorado

New House Bill in Colorado – New Requirements for Employers

Effective April 1, 2015, House Bill 14-1383 was been passed into law. This change in the Colorado Workers’ Compensation Act will require employers in Colorado to provide injured worker’s the choice of four physicians for treatment. Prior to the new law, the requirement was to provide two physicians. At least one of the four physicians must be at a separate and distinct location from the others.

If the employer location is in a rural area, and there are at least three but fewer than 9 physicians within a 30 mile radius of the employer’s location, the employer is exempt from this ruling. In these instances, however, the employer must provide two physicians with separate and distinct addresses and without common ownership.

Please share this with any Accident Fund policyholders with Colorado exposure and direct them to Accident Fund for assistance in locating providers.

Illinois

Governor Proposes Work Comp Reforms

Governor Rauner’s, “Turn Around Plan,” which includes several positive workers’ compensation proposals, has been receiving an increased amount of discussion as of late. The Chamber of Commerce recently communicated the Governor is really pushing for work comp reform. Mr. Rauner has told legislators, that if they want any increases in taxes, etc. that they need to support his economic reform first. With Democrats possessing a super majority in the Illinois legislature; if any of the perceived positive comp legislation is to gain momentum, the Governor will have to engage serious horse trading. We intend to monitor this situation closely.

Michigan

Auto No-Fault Proposals Receive Senate and House Debate/Votes

Major reform of Michigan’s auto no-fault insurance system could move toward final passage as early as next week after the House Insurance Committee sent a bill to the floor for consideration. The proposal, which passed out of the Senate last week with only one hearing, had seven hours of hearings over three days. Accident Fund Holdings remains engaged in the debate to avoid any unintended impact to the workers’ compensation system. The House version included some significant changes from the Senate version of the bill, including:

• A set fee schedule – 150% of rates charged for Medicare -The Senate version didn’t have a set fee schedule.
• Rates for home health care providers would be capped at $15 per hour for family members unless they were trained health care professionals. The amount could go up if more specialized care is needed.
• Unlike the Senate plan, the House version mandates that insurance companies reduce auto insurance rates by $100 per vehicle for two years.

Minnesota

Workers’ Compensation Medical Fee Schedule Proposal Introduced

The Minnesota Legislature is considering a bill to adopt a hospital fee schedule that would cap fees at 200% of the Medicare rate. The legislation is the product of the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council (WCAC) and is also strongly supported by the Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI). Rep. Tony Albright, R-Prior Lake, has introduced House File 2193 and an identical proposal, Senate File 2056 was introduced the same day. The bills would cap reimbursement for most hospital services provided to workers’ compensation claimants at 200% of Medicare’s Medical Severity-Diagnostic Related Group (MS-DRG) payment system, effective Jan. 1, 2016.

South Carolina

Work Comp Reform, Including Opt-Out Introduced

Last week Senator Shane Martin sponsored Senate Bill 674, which was introduced and referred to the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee. This bill would completely rewrite the Workers’ Compensation statute and would designate the South Carolina Department of Insurance as the agency to oversee the Workers’ Compensation system. The bill is quite lengthy, but would enable employers the option to opt-out of the workers’ compensation system and be open to possible lawsuits for negligence. Accident Fund Holdings is reviewing the proposal and working with industry partners to learn more regarding this initiatives political potential. More information will be available in our next report.

Tennessee

Opt-Out

Proposed Tennessee Opt-Out legislation, Senate Bill 721, has stalled at this time. We have confirmed the House will not address the initiative this year. The Senate sponsor and primary advocate has communicated he will continue to pursue a floor vote in the Senate. Although the legislative effort will not progress this year, we anticipate Senate Bill 721 to receive increased debate in 2016.

NCCI Named Residual Market Plan Administrator

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) has chosen the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) as the new plan administrator for the Tennessee Workers Compensation Insurance Plan (TWCIP). Beginning with policies effective July 1, 2015, NCCI will administer the plan, which will be renamed the Workers Compensation Insurance Plan (WCIP). NCCI will establish the infrastructure necessary to provide workers compensation residual market services, such as application processing and administration of the plan rules, and access to coverage in certain other states, among other services. Tennessee will join 22 other states in utilizing this national workers compensation residual market system. TDCI Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak welcomes the new administrator and looks forward to working with NCCI.

Wisconsin

Proposal to Reorganize Work Comp Department

The Governor has proposed to transfer the Workers’ Compensation Division from the Department of Workforce Development to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OCI). Additionally, approximately 30 workers’ compensation judges will transfer to Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA). The DHA is currently a department within OCI. The Governors intent is not to make any major changes to how the division currently functions. With the fiscal year ending June 30, the Joint Finance Committee budget proposal debate process is currently underway.

Information Sources – American Insurance Association, Insurance Institute of Michigan, MIRS, Workcompcentral, Illinois Chamber of Commerce

Disclaimer of Liability

This document is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This information is subject to change. Every effort is made to provide accurate and complete information in Accident Fund Holding’s Legislative Update. However, Accident Fund Holdings makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of the Update and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in the contents of this newsletter.

As the WorkSafe people, we all know it’s our job to help policyholders protect their employees from workplace injury. We’re also aware that workplace violence and crime prevention are key areas of concern when it comes to workplace safety. With that in mind, we are launching a new campaign that addresses violence in the workplace to bring awareness and education to our customers.

We’ve developed a website containing several tools, including brochures, tip sheets and posters full of useful information. These materials cover everything from precautionary measures to operation setup and inspection checklists.

This is an important topic — not only for preventing injury and saving money, but saving lives in many cases as well. We want policyholders to put these materials to good use and hope you’ll help us spread the word about the campaign to your Accident Fund customers. Click here to access the site and materials today!

Accident Fund is committed to saving our agents and customers time and money. To assist in that effort, we’ve made it easy for agents and policyholders to pay invoices online with electronic funds transfers (EFTs) via the Agent website home page and the Accident Fund Policyholder website, respectively.

The benefits for your customers of setting up EFTs include:

• Flexible scheduling: Your customers can select the amount they wish to pay and payment release date when making one-time payments.
• Convenient payment options: Any invoice can be paid from multiple checking or savings accounts. An option to set up automatic payments is also available, though only one checking or savings account can be used for that process. For more details on automatic payments, see the FAQ below.
• All bills available: Choose to pay premiums, audits or deductible invoices.
• 24/7 access to your records: View and make payments electronically when it suits your schedule.
• Paperwork reduction: Reduce the need for checks and mailing costs to send payments.

To inform your Accident Fund policyholders about this feature, please share this flier with them so that they can begin saving time and making online payments with EFTs today! If your customers have problems registering or accessing online payments, please contact an Accident Fund customer billing representative at 866-206-5851.

If You Are an Agent Making Payments for Your Policyholders

On the Agent website, you can view policyholder invoices and make payments for your accounts by clicking the View/Pay Invoices link under the Manage Policies section (far left column) on the home page. For you to have this functionality, the Security Administrator at your agency will need to assign you access to Online Payments.

If a Policyholder Has Never Registered or Needs to Re-Register on Our Policyholder Site

To re-register or register for the first time on the Policyholder site, policyholders should go to AccidentFund.com, select Login and then Policyholder Login at the top of the homepage. On the next page, they should select Register Here under the For Initial Policyholder Login heading. To register, they will need their policy number, Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) and current policy expiration date, which are all available on their policy. Please note: Only one person can perform the initial registration process for the site. The first person to do so will be designated as the Security Administrator for their organization. Instructions for Security Administrators as to how to set up other users and assign applications are available on the Policyholder site.

Additional FAQs About EFT

If a policy is endorsed during policy term, are future EFT drafts changed automatically to the new billing amount?
Yes.

How soon can online bill payments be set up for an account?
One to two days after policy issuance.

Why am I receiving invoice notifications for my customer’s accounts?
If you enter payment information on your policyholder’s behalf, even once, you will receive notifications for every invoice on this account from that point forward. If you wish to turn off these notifications, our customer billing representative can assist in deactivating them.

How long after a payment is submitted will it post to the policy?
Payments may take 2 to 3 business days to post to the policy, but will generally post the following day.

Auto payments that are scheduled when a payment is due will process three days prior to the invoice due date. Auto payments that are scheduled when a bill is received will process the day after an invoice is generated.

If an account is on automatic payments and an audit is completed where additional payment is required to true up the account, when is payment withdrawn?
If an account is on automatic payments, once an audit is completed, payment for any audit invoice is withdrawn the day after the invoice is created. For example, when an audit is completed on a Tuesday, an audit invoice is created on Wednesday with email notification being sent and a paper notification being mailed that same day. Payment for the audit invoice will be withdrawn on Thursday from the policyholder’s account. If you have policyholders who may have audits that would result in significantly different premium amounts, you may want to alert them to this possibility.

My customer’s account is a 10/1 policy which was bound on 9/15 and issued on 9/20. When would their invoice be due?
We provide customers 25 days to pay their invoice, even if it is issued late. In this case, the invoice would be due 25 days from 9/20 on 10/15. If the policy happened to be issued after the effective date, on say 10/10, the invoice would then be due on 11/4. However, the next installment would bill with the first since both would be due at the same time.

2014 was a very successful year for Accident Fund and the Accident Fund Holdings Enterprise. In fact, it was one of the most successful years in Accident Fund’s history. To learn how the Enterprise and each of our brands performed, we encourage you to review the 2014 Accident Fund Holdings’s Annual Report.