Colorado workers comp premiums to rise

It appears employers will have to plan on higher premiums for workers compensation in the coming year. As noted in this article the insurance

rates will be going up. It is asserted that the loss costs which pertain to lost wages and medical payments have been increasing by 5.2 per cent. You can expect many insurers will be raising their premium rates to make up for this. Pinnacol Assurance intends to raise rates by an average of 9.5 per cent as noted in this other article. The Pinnacol claim is that workers compensation has not been profitable since 2006. Colorado employers are still paying Pinnacol 32 per cent less than what they paid in 2006 even with this raise. At least that is the claim. Given the economy it seems difficult to fathom this raise. I have always thought that companies who were not profitable for many years would not be around but Pinnacol seems healthy enough to be doing okay. In any event this is the third year for rate increases in Colorado. Certainly we all know that medical costs still appear to be going up. I do point out that not every state agrees to raise rates and as pointed out here in Massachusetts the state questioned the figures as inflated and unreasonable. The point is that a state should carefully review matters and not assume the facts asserted by the industry are accurate. Seems like common sense to me.

Health Coverage in Colorado

If you have had a work injury or disability you or other family members may need health insurance for any future problems. Perhaps you qualify for medicare once you are disabled or retire but what about your spouse? Perhaps you are running out of any continuation health coverage. For those of us in Colorado here are a couple of websites that provide information you may find useful. The first site is for those who are not insured. Is coverage possible? Yes so click here for this website. Anyone with a preexisting condition (and that means most of us) should not be unable to obtain insurance coverage. While many politicos preach about this way or that the fact is that times have been tough for the uninsured and those with preexisting conditions. Group coverage is fine until you lose your job. At this website if you have had coverage within the last 6 months you may be able to use the information to obtain further coverage. After all COBRA coverage does not last forever so this site may help you out. Last I did want to include a link to Andrew Mersereau of Premier Insurance. He has been quite helpful on a personal basis on health coverage. Don't be afraid to call an agent for help when you cannot do it yourself.

Update on the Status of Colorado Bills

Here is a link to a summary on the status of the various bills which may impact Colorado workers compensation matters. I'll comment in a later post on some of these but for the time being the link really does a very good job of giving us a heads up on the proposed bills some of which have passed and been signed by the governor. It appears for this year the legislative activity is just about over but it may take a several more days to see what is passed and signed by the governor.

Privatizing Pinnacol?

Colorado given its budget shortfall is now looking at privatizing Pinnacol Assurance. I've written about Pinnacol before but this is a new twist. Originally Pinnacol was set up by the state to make it easier for employers to obtain workers comp coverage. This was especially true of employers in higher risk areas such as construction or truck driving. The state believed it could set it up to keep costs down and for the most part that is what happened. Many private insurers will naturally want to avoid some fields or have much higher rates. Pinnacol did seem to help and more then 50% of all workers comp insurance is now through Pinnacol. Time moves on and perhaps privatizing it can mean help with the state budget and let Pinnacol be truly independent which it has said it wants. I do wonder how this will all play out but the future of Pinnacol makes for an interesting story.

A Very Special Story

I debated posting about this because it does not concern workers compensation or Social Security disability. But it does concern disability and how we all can learn how to deal with it. This story concerns how a little boy responded to a disabled child. It just so happens this disabled child is my granddaughter. Her name is Cici and she just turned 18 months old. Several months ago she choked on food and despite heroic efforts it resulted in oxygen deprivation. She came close to dying but after many weeks returned home needing constant care. In an instant lives were changed but through it all hope has remained and progress has been steady. All sorts of problems have to be dealt with and yet against all odds the child and her family have been survivors. What makes it more special is that a little boy named Max and his parents found out about Cici's story. In this link to my daughters blog you can see what Max then did. A disability can happen to any of us at any time. It can happen to those we care about. The effects of a disability are widespread and often very tough to deal with. Yet despite it all there are special people out there, like in Max's story and in Cici's story that inspire us. They are beacons of hope who remind us that how you approach disability is with honesty, compassion and dedication to do all that we can.

The President and Healthcare Reform

If you click on this link you will be taken to an official site maintained by President Obama supporters that gives you a chance to push for healthcare reform. The current healthcare system is simply terrible. It is not because we lack quality healthcare. Instead we have a system where too many are uninsured or underinsured. We have a system where healthcare costs are rising too fast. We have a system where life and death decisions are made yet we are all mired in a complex maze of paperwork, rules and confusion. One of my clients once said that in her country you are taken care of from cradle to grave. Not here. Change will be difficult. It will require compromise but we must start before we lose control over it. If you are injured at work you usually have one form of insurance coverage. If you get sick at home another. If you are poor there is still another form of coverage. If you are in an auto accident perhaps still another. If on medicare still another. And on and on. Claims may be promptly resolved or take years to resolve. The effort to reform this requires the support of many of us. Please take the time to check into this. This is an issue that will not go away and doing nothing is not a solution.

Larson's National Workers Comp Advisory Board

I have just been invited to become a member of Larson's National Workers Compensation Advisory Board. This is maintained by LexisNexis a very large legal publisher. I do appreciate the invitation and accepted. So from time to time I'll provide information to them on Colorado workers comp matters. Larson's Workers Compensation Law is historically the major publication and source of knowledge in this field. With the internet much is now moving onto the web. For example I do my legal research using Westlaw which maintains a searchable database of legal materials. In the old days we had to search through digests and state law books followed by "shepardizing" cases just to verify the decided issue was still good law. Now we can do all this and more in less time.

Is This a Noteworthy Blog? Seems Like it...

Well aside from the LexisNexis award we received it looks like another blog called us noteworthy. It is always nice to receive a compliment. It's funny but we started this blog as a way just to post my comments and provide news of interest to others. It has been fun and sometimes challenging to do so and it does appear that it is educating its readers. I realize it is written from the perspective of the disabled or injured worker. I have found many to be exceptional people placed in difficult circumstances and often treated as no longer worthy. They can be terminated, contested, disputed and mistreated. They are often hurting physically, emotionally and financially. They are stuck in what can seem to be a nightmare but most truly just want to be fairly treated. They are often portrayed as fakers and money grubbers when all they seek are what they may be legally entitled to receive. Are there some that are out of line...of course and the same applies to the other side. There are always bad apples out there in anything.

Community Resources

The link I am providing is to a directory of some 39 pages of resources available in the community. While developed for families it has a great listing of numerous community resources in the El Paso County area for anyone. It is in adobe or pdf format so it can be printed out but it may load slowly. My point in doing this is to provide a list with phone numbers for those who are financially stressed or needing assistance but have no idea where to turn. Look it over by clicking here.

Try a Diversion...Ruth's Cookies

Okay...this is not about workers compensation or Social Security disability. It is just about something as simple and rewarding as a cookie. Nothing earthshaking but there are times despite the stress and troubles in the world that we all need a time out and a time to just enjoy life. Ruth's Cookies has been a bakery I've known about for years. But what they produce is not some store bought version but a real cookie. The type that melts in your mouth and gives you an instant rush. They used to be out east but now are on the westside. I must admit their cookies are my favorites and by accident I came across them as I was driving on the westside. I was delighted to have rediscovered them and quickly bought a dozen snickerdoodles. Just think...only a simple cookie. That is about as far removed from controversy and disability as is possible. Time out to just enjoy.

A Quick Note About Posted Links

In some stories or postings I've made I will put a link to the story or article of interest. However sometimes the posting which can be current at the time no longer is available due to the passage of time. Usually with court cases that is not a problem because they are kept posted for 2 years or longer. But every now and then a perfectly good link becomes unavailable. This can happen with news articles or if the website I am sending you to has changed. If you are really interested in the link you might try going over to the way back machine at archive.org and they may be able to go back in time to the old link.