The newest program offerings for this year’s Workers’Compensation Educational Conference, to be held from Aug.23–26, 2015, in Orlando, are the breakout sessions for agents and brokerssponsored by the National Council on Compensation Insurance(NCCI).

The sessions have information for everyone who has a role in theworkers’ compensation system regardless of their state orjurisdiction, even though the sessions are designated for agentsand brokers.

This cutting-edge series will begin with an overview of thecurrent and anticipated workers’ compensation marketplace, whichonly NCCI as the designated rating organization in a majority ofstates is in a position to provide. NCCI findings and predictionswill be supplemented by regulatory and industry spokespersons. Thesessions will give you and your fellow conference attendees aunique opportunity to learn aspects of the workers’ compensationsystem that are rarely discussed with the generalpublic—information that’s essential for having a completeunderstanding of the workers’ compensation industry, no matterwhere you’re located.

Obtaining coverage for work-related injuries is mandatory inmost states. This coverage requirement can be met through a varietyof sources, including an insurance policy, self-insurance, orcoverage through such alternate methods as participating in aprofessional employer organization (PEO). Each of these mechanismswill be discussed with an emphasis on ratemaking, premium orassessment determination methods, and overall regulatoryoversight.

Of particular interest to all workers’ compensation stakeholdersis a complete understanding of NCCI’s procedures (adopted in wholeor in part by 34 states plus the District of Columbia) forcalculating rates for employer classification codes (in general)and particular employers within those class codes (experiencemodification calculation). Whether you’re an employer, riskmanager, agent, broker, adjuster, claims representative, safetyprofessional or anyone else within the system, it’s essential thatyou have a complete appreciation of your role in affecting theultimate workers’ compensation costs and that you understand NCCI’sprocesses for determining those costs. The sessions in thisbreakout will provide in-depth information on how these costcalculations are made.

Numerous NCCI handouts will be available for distribution orpurchase, and experts from NCCI will be around to answer yourquestions. As requested in the registration forms, be sure to pre-register yourplanned attendance at these sessions to ensure that enough handoutsare available for distribution. Many of the courses have beenapproved for continuing education credits, and specific informationis available here.