Bill Barbagallo, co-author with the RAND Corporation and Navigant Consulting of a new groundbreaking study of California's broken workers' compensation system, will publicly reveal the study's findings in his keynote at the inaugural Making Workers' Comp Work Conference (www.makingworkerscompwork.com) in San Francisco on March 11-12. This will be the first time the study's findings are presented in a public forum.
"The core of the presentation addresses this simple fact: in California, the workers' compensation insurance market has been like a roller coaster for more than a decade. This volatility makes it harder for businesses to plan and threatens the ongoing health of workers' compensation insurance," said Barbagallo, now a partner at Barbagallo & Stuehrk, LLC.
The study reveals six key factors that created a business environment that manifested massive volatility and widespread insolvencies over the past 15 years: inaccurate cost projections of claims, insurers pricing of policies below expected costs and under-reserving for claim costs, problems with reinsurance and managing general agents (MGAs), and inadequate policyholder surplus cushion against adverse events.
The presentation will also discuss:
- Why the "perfect storm" of volatility insolvency followed open rating
- How recent Ogilvie and Almaraz/Guzman decisions will impact the future of California Workers' Compensation
- Why MGAs and reinsurance have caused problems since the 1980s and could do so again
- Why the RBC system is not a panacea
Barbagallo will offer post-SB899 recommendations that aim to increase the predictability of workers' compensation costs, enhance the transparency of the system, better align the incentives of the major players, and improve the California Department of Insurance's oversight.
"The Barbagallo/RAND study neatly encapsulates the reasons why workers' comp isn't working in California," said Phil Walker, organizer of the conference. "However, its real power lies in its recommendations, which – if followed — could help set California on a more successful path."
ABOUT BILL BARBAGALLO
As a principal with Barbagallo & Stuehrk, William C. Barbagallo consults to clients' claims, reinsurance and insolvency issues. He has 30 years' experience in Insurance Consulting, Claims, Reinsurance, Claim Systems, and Operational Reviews. William is the former Managing Director of the Insurance Practice for Navigant Consulting.
ABOUT THE MAKING WORKERS COMP WORK CONFERENCE
The Making Workers' Comp Work Conference (March 11-12 in San Francisco) brings together leading employers and top industry experts in law, medicine and insurance to find immediate and practical solutions that will make workers comp work for all in California. This conference is the first of its kind, combining education, networking, crowd sourcing and political activism. The conference is organized and sponsored by The Phil Neal Walker Law Firm www.philnealwalkerlaw.com.
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CONFERENCE RATES
The Making Workers' Comp Work Conference is FREE for employers, HR managers and claims professionals (http://bit.ly/bJIiEE). Lawyers and doctors may attend for a fee of $495.
To reserve a space, please contact Carolyn Veinovic at 415-295-4447, carolyn@makingworkerscompwork.com.
Note to editors: A limited number of complimentary press passes are available. To request a press pass, please contact Stephen Crane at Making Workers' Comp Work Conference, stephen@makingworkerscompwork.com.
Contacts:
Making Workers' Comp Work Conference
Stephen Crane, 951-732-7010
stephen@makingworkerscompwork.com