OhioBWC - Home: Current News

OhioBWC - Home: Current News

Media Advisory: Dec. 17, 2009

BWC Board of Directors Adopt Provider Fee Schedules, Preview New Employer Programs

COLUMBUS – The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors today adopted new fee schedules that will increase overall reimbursements to Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASC) and Vocational Rehabilitation providers that treat injured workers. The new fee schedules will increase payments to ASCs by 16 percent and those to vocational rehabilitation providers will rise by six percent over 2009 rates.

“Ambulatory Surgical Centers and Vocational Rehabilitation providers are crucial to meeting the needs of injured workers,” said Bob Coury, BWC’s Chief of Medical Services. “By offering competitive fee schedules we are supporting this network of medical and vocational providers to offer quality medical and rehabilitative care, intended to help injured workers with a safe and swift return to work.”

Approximately 200 Ohio ASCs serve injured workers who need treatment in connection with surgical procedures not requiring inpatient hospitalization. Vocational rehabilitation providers offer individualized programs for injured workers who need assistance in safely returning to their job or need to be trained for new work when they can no longer perform duties of their former position due to their injury. The Vocational Rehabilitation fee schedule will become effective February 15, 2010 and ASC fee schedule will become effective April 1.

In other business, the board’s Actuarial Committee heard a presentation from BWC staff detailing proposed new programs that are designed to give Ohio employers opportunities to have more control in managing their workers’ compensation expenditures. The programs are part of BWC’s rate reform efforts. They are based on successful insurance industry practices and intended to increase workplace safety efforts.

Earlier this year, BWC implemented a five-level deductible program and a group retrospective rating program. New choices being planned for 2010 include an Individual Incurred Loss Retrospective Program that will offer an option for individual private employers and public employer taxing districts to participate in retrospective rating by receiving a premium adjustment based on claims performance. The plan also calls for expanding the deductible program to allow employers to choose higher per claim deductible levels between $25,000 and $200,000.

“Our new products are designed to help Ohio employers have a hand in managing their workers’ compensation dollars through focused safety efforts,” said BWC Administrator Marsha Ryan. “These performance-based programs are more reflective of the insurance-like programs offered in other states by both publicly and privately run insurance carriers.”

The board is expected to vote on these programs at its January meeting.

The Board of Directors also approved a new investment strategy for the Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Fund, which provides benefits to employers with claims related to employee exposure to coal dust. The board accepted the recommendation of staff and BWC’s investment consultant, Mercer Investment Consulting, to maintain the asset allocation at 80 percent bonds and 20 percent equities. Changes of categories approved within these asset classes now include intermediate duration bonds, U.S. Treasury Inflated Protected Securities (TIPS) and U.S. and foreign stocks.

Finally, today the Board approved hiring Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI) as a BWC Passive Index Manager for the State Insurance Fund (SIF). NTGI will manage a portion of the Fund’s Russell 3000 Benchmark Index mandate. NTGI responded to a request for proposal posted by BWC on July 2, 2009, and will manage assets of the SIF under the supervision of the BWC Investment Division.

The next BWC Board of Directors meeting will be held Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8 a.m. in Room 3, Level 2 of the William Green Building, located at 30 W. Spring St., Columbus.

# # #