The WSIA Weekly, 4.24.15
Read WSIA’s 2015 Legislative Wrap-Up
As the 2015 regular session of the Washington State Legislature comes to a close later today, with a brief hiatus before beginning a 30-day special session next Wednesday, WSIA has published an overview of what happened since January on the issues you care about. Follow this link to take a look.
Important webinar and annual conference cutoffs next week!
A few spots remain for our very highly subscribed webinar offering next Thursday, April 30, “The Alphabet of Accommodation: WC, ADA, FMLA, & WLAD,” featuring attorney Betsy Reeves of Reeves Shima, covering many of the human resource considerations that come up when an employee is also on workers’ compensation. Click here for more information and to register.
Also, the registration for this year’s Annual Conference, “WSIA’s Wild World of Workers’ Compensation” closes next Friday, May 1. Click the banner at the bottom of the newsletter below (or here) for more information and to register!
Complimentary live/recorded webinar update next week on audit reform
Also next week, WSIA is hosting a complimentary, community-wide webinar on Wednesday, April 29th from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., featuring key staff from L&I’s self-insurance division updating self-insured employers and their representatives on the results of the first quarter of the new tiered audit model. The presentation will go over early results – of 51 audits finalized, for example, only 28 employers passed – and will cover what employers will expect and examples of payroll records being requested, along with Q&A. If you can’t attend but want the information, register anyway and a link to the recording of the presentation will be sent to you afterwards. Register at this link.
Worker Memorial Ceremony next Tuesday
The Department of Labor & Industries is holding this year’s Worker Memorial Ceremony next Tuesday, April 28th at L&I headquarters in Tumwater. This annual event remembers and pays tribute to the workers who died on the job in the prior year. All told, 89 workers lost their lives on the job in 2014, an unfortunate uptick over prior years. The ceremony features remarks from Governor Jay Inslee, L&I Director Joel Sacks, and business and labor representatives. WSIA will be represented this year in remarks by the Mariners’ and Seahawks’ Therese Baxter, currently serving as our interim President. You can view more about the event here.
Industrial Insurance Medical Advisory Committee met yesterday; materials online
The state’s Industrial Insurance Medical Advisory Committee (IIMAC) met yesterday, discussing system issues as diverse as opioid prescribing guidelines and scorecards, adoption of the DSM-5, discussion of a clinical guidance on Beryllium-related occupational disease, and other medical treatment guideline issues. You can view the materials from the meeting here.
L&I announces hiring of new self-insurance Claims Operations Manager
Yesterday afternoon, Self-Insurance Program Manager Jim Nylander announced the hiring of La Nae Lien as Acting Claims Operations Manager in the self-insurance section, replacing the outgoing Brenda Heilman. Lien comes to the role most recently having supervised the Structured Settlements unit in the Legal Services Division of the Department. We look forward to working with her and wish Brenda Heilman the best in her new role in Employer Services at the Department.
