myMatrixx President Mike Cirillo was recently quoted in a piece for Risk & Insurance Magazine covering the major forces that will be shaping the workers’ comp field in the next decade. The article focuses on a new book by Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) founder and Sedgewick Institute senior fellow, Dr. Richard Victor. The book, entitled “Scenarios for the 2030s: Threats and Opportunities for Workers’ Compensation Systems”, makes the case that factors such as a projected labor shortage, case shifting and continuing technological development will cause significant changes for the industry in the coming years.
In the wide-ranging piece that quotes many industry leaders, Mike weighs in on the topic of case shifting and the potential for fraudulent claims. With changes in health care policy, such as the passage of the Affordable Care Act, there often comes speculation that more claims will shift to workers’ comp due to the higher reimbursement rate. Mike’s thoughts are that these concerns are often exaggerated, and as coverage gaps among the uninsured and underinsured continue to close, the need to shift cases to workers’ comp may actually decline. “Throughout my career, I’ve been led to believe that the fraudulent shift is less than five percent of the total claim counts,” he says.
You can read the full article here for more of his thoughts and a deeper look at the future of workers’ comp.