As March 2021 progresses, it marks the one-year anniversary of the first lockdowns that came with the arrival of COVID-19 in the United States. The past 12 months have been exceptionally challenging for nearly everyone, and not just in the United States. This pandemic is a global one, impacting countries around the world in varying ways.
Businesses and industries here in the US have faced their own unique challenges in understanding COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The insurance industry has not escaped massive upheaval and complications either, and the full impact of these changes is likely yet to be completely realized.
While more information has become available about COVID-19 in the last year, much is still unknown about the virus and about its impacts within the workforce. The implementation of lockdowns around the country propelled the rise of remote work options, with office workers taking to their home offices as much as possible. With fewer people returning to the office, instead continuing to work remotely, there may be far-reaching impacts to the workers’ compensation industry.
As the one-year mark rapidly approaches, there are still many questions about these impacts. However, insurance companies should be taking a proactive approach to improve their workers’ compensation claims efficiency. They should also be examining ways to help hold down the cost of work comp claims.
If your company has not previously considered working with a third-party administrator (TPA) for your work comp claims, now is the time to do so. An experienced TPA can assist your company in a variety of ways, all of which ultimately help to reduce costs and streamline your claims administration process overall.
One example of how your company can benefit by working with a TPA is to take a look at how a TPA will help reduce administrative burdens on your examiners. As noted, COVID-19 can be an unknown factor in the work comp industry. One of the major questions with answers that can vary is related to whether employers should pay benefits to those unable to work because of COVID-19. This may mean that your examiners will be spending more time reviewing rules and regulations around this for various states, which adds up to a significant amount of additional time spent on administering claims.
Partnering with a TPA will help free up some time for your examiners since the TPA will step in to handle other portions of the claim administration process. The TPA can also help ensure your claimants’ questions are answered in a timely manner, further providing benefits to your company like higher claimant satisfaction scores.
For a more in-depth look at your workers’ compensation claims process during COVID-19, call Rosanne Brugnoni at 586-755-3830 ext. 3771 today.
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