IWCC Posts PPP Notification Form

HB 1698 contained several requirements for the creation of Illinois workers' compensation preferred provider programs (PPPs). One of those requirements was an employee PPP notification form promulgated by the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (IWCC). An employer with an Illinois Department of Insurance-approved PPP must provide an injured employee with the notification form at the first report of injury.

The IWCC Medical Fee Advisory Board approved a draft version of that form at its October 18 meeting, and the IWCC website now includes its PPP notification form.

Preferred Provider Program Basic Requirements:

In order for employers to implement the PPP direction of care process, HB 1698 lists two basic requirements:

1. The IWCC must promulgate a notification form that the employer will provide to an employee at the time of injury. This form is now available on the IWCC website. 
2. The PPP must be approved by the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI). HFN recently confirmed with the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) that there are no approved or provisionally approved workers' comp PPPs. The IDOI has a link on their website of approved workers' compensation Preferred Provider Program Administrators. That list is the source for all approved workers' compensation PPPs in the state of Illinois, and currently it reads, "No Companies have been approved at this time." There is also a permanent link to the IDOI approved list located on the lower right of this blog under the heading Illinois Dept. of Insurance Registered Administrators.

We will continue to provide PPP updates as the IDOI finalizes its regulations and moves towards approving the preferred provider program applications currently under Department review.

IWCC Approves PPP Notification Form & Changes Fee Schedule Regions

There were two major announcements that came out of the IWCC Medical Fee Advisory Board's October 18 meeting.

First, the Board approved its HB 1698-mandated Preferred Provider Program (PPP) employee notification form. The Board made a final change to the proposed form at the meeting, and it approved the modified form for release to the public. It will be available on the IWCC's website in the near future.

The Medical Fee Advisory Board also approved a second document that will appear on the IWCC's website as well. This document is an example of the type of information employers could provide employees to educate them about a PPP before an injury; however, this particular document is not mandatory.

There is only one IWCC PPP notification form required by HB 1698. After an employee reports an injury, the employer with a PPP must provide the employee with the PPP notification form promulgated by the IWCC. An employer with a PPP is allowed to notify its employees about the program at any time, but an employer with a PPP is required to provide the IWCC's PPP injury notification form to an employee after the employee's report of injury.

Second, the methodology for calculating the new fee schedule regions changed. At the September Medical Fee Advisory Board meeting, the Board voted to utilize a weighted average, by geozip population, to calculate the new 14 hospital regions and 4 non-hospital regions. However, at yesterday's meeting, Chairman Weisz announced that the IWCC will utilize a straight average, without weighting, to collapse the current geozip fee schedule amounts into the 1/1/2012 fee schedule regions. There were no further updates on when the new regions' fee schedule amounts would appear on the IWCC's medical fee schedule lookup.

No IDOI-Approved or Provisionally Approved PPPs

Since we have recently received several inquiries regarding "provisionally approved" workers' compensation preferred provider programs (PPPs), we felt the need for a brief clarification.

HFN confirmed with the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) this morning that there are no applications that have been approved or provisionally approved for use as a Workers’ Compensation Preferred Provider Program.

The IDOI has a link on their website of Approved Workers' Compensation Preferred Provider Program Administrators.  That list is the source for all approved workers' compensation PPPs in the state of Illinois, and currently it reads, "No Companies have been approved at this time."  

There is also a permanent link to the list (Approved Work Comp PPPs) located on the lower right of this blog under the heading Illinois Dept. of Insurance Registered Administrators.

We will provide updates once the IDOI begins to approve PPP applications, but, for the moment, there are no approved (provisionally or otherwise) workers' comp PPPs in the state of Illinois.

Gov. Quinn Appoints Seven to Workers' Compensation Commission

It has been a very busy week keeping up with the changes at the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (IWCC). 

On Monday, Governor Quinn's office announced seven appointments (two new Commissioners and five reappointments) to the Workers' Compensation Commission. Three additional Commissioners are currently serving four year terms that are set to expire on January 21, 2013.

Reappointed Commissioners:

• Mario Basurto
• Daniel R. Donohoo
• David L. Gore Jr
• Kevin W. Lamborn
• Nancy H. Lindsay

New Commissioners:

• Charles DeVriendt
• Michael Paul Latz

Currently Serving Commissioners:

• Yolaine Dauphin
• Thomas Tyrrell
• Mitchell Weisz (Chairman)

IWCC Posts Coverage Schedule for Former Arbitrators' Calls

Since Gov. Quinn appointed the new IL workers' compensation arbitrators on Friday, the IWCC needs to reassign the former arbitrators' current cases.  The IWCC website now has the coverage schedule for the calls of the former arbitrators. 

In its News section, the IWCC's website states

...Finally, please be aware that we are in the process of consolidating 24 arbitrator territories to 17, reassigning 85,000 cases among the newly appointed arbitrators, and switching our continuance schedule from two months to three months. It is an enormous undertaking, and we are doing this with a 30-year-old mainframe system. We are doing everything we can to make this a smooth transition, but please expect some bumps in the road. Check this website frequently for announcements regarding changes in calls or trials. We will appreciate your understanding and patience. If you have questions, please contact the Chairman's Office (312/814-6560).

IWCC Medical Fee Advisory Board Meeting Reminder

The IWCC Medical Fee Advisory Board's next meeting is Tuesday, October 18 at 2pm. The Board meeting will take place in room 9-034 at the Thompson Center.

The agenda includes both a status update on the new hospital and non-hospital region fee schedules and the preferred provider program (PPP) notification form.

At the September Medical Fee Advisory Board meeting, Mitch Weisz, the IWCC Chairman, stated that their goal was to have a finalized version of the PPP notification form available to the public by early October.

As of this morning (October 17), the IWCC website stated:

When an employee notifies the employer of an injury, an employer that has a PPP must notify the employee of this in writing. The Workers' Compensation Medical Fee Advisory Board is exchanging draft versions of the PPP notification letter. We will post it once it is completed.

We will provide any updates regarding the PPP notification form, and any other topics covered at the Board meeting, later this week.

NCCI Requests IL Rate Increase for Next Year

In addition to the announcement of the new Illinois workers' compensation arbitrator appointments, there is another update regarding the Illinois workers' compensation landscape.

Business Insurance posted an article that details NCCI Holding's request with the Illinois Department of Insurance for a 3.5% workers' compensation rate increase next year. 

Gov. Quinn Appoints New Arbitrators

Governor Quinn announced the new Illinois workers' compensation arbitrator appointments this afternoon.

One of the first changes resulting from HB 1698 was the termination of the Workers’ Compensation Commission arbitrators for the State of Illinois on July 1, 2011. The IWCC's Workers' Compensation Advisory Board was charged with advising Governor Quinn on arbitrator appointments and reappointments.

According to the press release, 10 former arbitrators were not reappointed by Governor Quinn. They include:

• John Dibble, Gilberto Galicia, James Giordano, Kathleen Hagan, Robert Lammie, Andrew Nalefski, Richard Peterson and Joseph Prieto.
• Charles DeVriendt will be appointed to the Commission instead.
• Jennifer Teague, a former arbitrator who resigned as of July 30, 2011.

New Illinois workers' compensation arbitrators are:

IL Preferred Provider Programs (PPPs) Approval Process Update

There seems to be a growing consensus that the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) approval process for the new workers’ compensation preferred provider programs (PPPs) could continue through the rest of 2011. Employers would have the ability to designate an IDOI-approved PPP in early 2012. This article from Business Insurance supports our recent conversations with the IDOI regarding the PPP approval timeframe.

After receiving comments from interested parties on its draft rule, the IDOI is currently reviewing and evaluating the comments in order to create the administrative rules that will finalize the criteria required for IDOI PPP approval. The timeframe is also dependent on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules’ (JCAR) schedule. JCAR provides an overview of the IL rulemaking process on its website.

For networks, like HFN, currently awaiting final review in the IDOI’s PPP process, the release of the draft rule, and eventually the finalized administrative rules, is the final step towards establishing compliance with the IDOI and gaining its approval for their PPPs.

IWCC's Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Report

The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (IWCC) released their Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2010.

While the report briefly mentions this year's reforms to the IL workers' comp system, it mostly summarizes the system pre-HB 1698. 

Beginning on page 21, the report provides an interstate comparison of workers' compensation metrics. Many of the metrics come directly from reports by various sources including the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), and the 2010 Oregon Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Report.

The Oregon study, when it was released in October of 2010, showed that Illinois' workers' compensation insurance premiums increased from 2004 to 2010.  That moved Illinois from the 23rd highest state in 2004 to the 3rd highest state in 2010 for insurance costs. 

The reform measures included in HB 1698 prompted NCCI to file for an 8.8% decrease in Illinois' voluntary advisory insurance rates effective 9/1/11.  It will be interesting to see where Illinois ranks when Oregon releases its next study, if that rate modification is included in the report.