Five Tips for Helping Clients Benefit from Network Option
By David Wylie

This spring, Texas Mutual Insurance Company launched its Texas Star Network_SM option. Employers who choose to participate will benefit from the network’s focus on treating injuries and returning injured employees to the job. Most will also earn a 12 percent annual network premium discount.

Agents will play a key role in helping their clients make the right choice when it comes to our network option. “This is an exciting new benefit of Texas Mutual^® coverage," said Ken Lauber, vice president of field operations at Texas Mutual Insurance Company. “We need agents right there with us as we roll this program out to our mutual clients."

With that in mind, here are five things every agent can do to help their clients take advantage of our network option.

1. Determine eligibility.
Most employers with any operations in the network service areas are eligible to participate. The network service areas currently include the Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio metropolitan areas. Visit the Health Care Network section for a complete map of network service areas. By the end of the second quarter, we hope to have network coverage in the vast majority of the state.

2. Enroll eligible clients.
You can start enrolling your eligible clients in the Texas Star Network_SM option immediately.The easiest and most efficient way to get an in-network quote for a new-business submission or an endorsement for an existing Texas Mutual^® client is through our Internet Quoting system.

You can also email your request to apps@texasmutual.com for new business or underwriting@texasmutual.com for endorsements; fax your request to (800) 359-0650; or mail your request to Texas Mutual Insurance Company, Attn: Underwriting, P.O. Box 12058, Austin, TX 78711-2058. You can request endorsements for existing clients at any time during their policy period.

3. Promote the network.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is in the early stages of a multimedia campaign designed to promote the network option. We will include network messaging in our advertisements, marketing material, and statewide workers’ compensation workshops. You can promote the employer and employee benefits of networks. Tell your clients how the network’s return-to-work focus helps improve the quality of care for injured workers, increase productivity, and should help control claim costs.

4. Explain network responsibilities.
Agents should help employers understand their responsibilities when they choose to participate in a network. Stress the importance of delivering the required notice of network requirements to employees and maintaining a record of delivery. Explain how critical it is for employers to understand that the network’s promise of improved return-to-work outcomes is only possible if they fully participate in the process.

5. Use our resources.
The Health Care Network section has most of the network information you and your clients need. It includes employer network responsibilities, frequently asked network questions, a network provider directory, a network service area map, PowerPoint presentations, and samples of our network-related communications to policyholders.

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Texas Mutual Insurance Company.