Is Mental Injury Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

Yesterday Peter Rousmaniere published a rather scathing opinion piece on this site accusing the insurance industry in general of intentionally misleading the federal government and others when it comes to mental injury claims. It was his position that workers’ compensation insurers are shirking their responsibilities in the area of mental health, and of being intentionally…

While Workers' Comp Quietly Works

There is a great deal of discussion going on today about the problems of workers’ compensation. Many bloggers and columnists, including myself, devote a significant percentage of our energy to opining and analyzing what is wrong with the industry. It is a primary topic of conferences, and Lord knows the media has spent a decent…

Gussying Up For Best Blogs 2017

We’ve been preparing this week to launch the 2nd Annual Best Blogs Contest, designed to find the most informative and entertaining blogs in the workers’ compensation industry. The judges have (almost all) been confirmed, the Best Blogs logo has been given an updated look, and we are preparing our systems to receive nominations. You will…

Workers' Comp and the Digital Malaise

Peter Rousmaniere wrote an excellent piece that appeared yesterday on this site, addressing the challenge of digitizing our industry. Specifically, he informed us that, while the “American economy is 27 percent digitized”, only 10 percent of the property casualty insurance industry has reached that point. With estimates, according to Rousmaniere, that up to 43 percent…

The Potently Palliative Power of Poop

I must be honest with you. I did not write most of this “feces as medicine” post. Instead, it was penned by a friend and fellow blogger, who ultimately came to realize that he, due to his high station, relative sobriety and stellar reputation in life, could not give justice to the topic at hand.…

Relentless Automation Creep

Everyone, it seems, is talking about automation and artificial intelligence these days. The relentless cry is that “it is going to change our world”. I agree that this is going to occur. But what we don’t want to forget is that, over the last decade or more it has already happened, and we’ve barely seemed…

SnowDown 1, Blog 0

When I moved from my hometown of Durango, CO almost 33 years ago, I had no idea that I would be “out of the state” for such a tremendous length of time. A freshly minted college graduate, I headed for the Sunshine State, hoping for a few snowless winters before I would likely wind my…