UWC Workers' Comp Seminars In Jan.

NU Online News Service, Dec. 16, 11:15 a.m. EST? A series of educational telephone seminars on workers' compensation issues will be held next month, sponsored by Strategic Services on Unemployment & Workers' Compensation in Washington, D.C.

The sessions will feature industry experts on timely workers' comp public policy issues that confront the business community, UWC said.

The first session, scheduled for Jan.10, 2003, will focus on the implementation of the new federal Terrorism Risk Insurance law and how it will affect workers' comp professionals.

"The Terrorism Risk Insurance law is a monumental piece of legislation. It must be implemented quickly, but it will affect not only insurance carriers and their policyholders but also self-insured employers. And it is critical that it is implemented correctly," said Eric Oxfeld, president of UWC.

The terrorism insurance law was designed to restore confidence in the market, including workers' comp insurance and other important lines of business, Mr. Oxfeld said, "but if it isn't implemented correctly, it won't achieve its intended economic objectives."

Mr. Oxfeld added that one of the most interesting aspects of the law is the provision related to self-insurers, because it has gotten relatively little attention so far.

"The law applies to insurance companies. It also allows the U.S. Treasury Secretary to extend the law to self-insurers, but that is very complicated. For example, the burden is based primarily on premiums but self-insureds don't pay premiums," he said. "How will premiums be calculated? Will self-insureds have to participate? That's the basic decision that the Treasury Department has to make."

The seminar on the terrorism insurance law will be followed by a session on Jan. 31, 2003, that will focus on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule. The session will examine how the HIPAA privacy law--which will take effect next April--will impact the exchange of medical records in the workers' comp system.

"The interaction between state workers' comp law and the federal privacy rule, as well as the privacy practices of medical providers, insurers and employers will be affected. But many people in the workers' comp system are unprepared," Mr. Oxfeld said.

"The seminar will give participants an opportunity to find out what effects the federal HIPAA rule will have on states' workers' comp system."

Registration for the seminars is open to all employers, including insured and self-insured. Insurance carriers, third-party administrators, and state and national business organizations, as well as law firms with a workers' comp defense practice, can also register, UWC said.

The fee for each session is $70 for UWC members and $95 for non-members. Those interested in more details can e-mail robinsonc@uwcstrategy.org or call UWC at 202-637-3464.

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UWC Workers' Comp Seminars In Jan.

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