| Winter 2008
Workers’ Comp: In or Out?
Your clients count on you to help them get the right coverage at the right price. Here are four reasons you can give them for choosing a workers’ comp policy.
Legal protection for employers
If an employer purchases a workers’ compensation policy from a licensed carrier, their injured workers cannot sue them for pain and suffering or other damages resulting from workplace injuries. Nonsubscribers, on the other hand, bear complete financial responsibility for an employee’s injury or death if they are found negligent.
Benefits for injured workers
Employers who purchase a workers’ comp policy send a message that they care about their employees. When employees suffer compensable injuries, a workers’ comp policy will:
- Pay all reasonable and necessary medical bills for a work-related injury.
- Replace some lost wages, and compensate the injured employee for permanent impairment caused by a compensable work-related injury.
- Pay income benefits based on a percentage of the employee’s pre-injury salary.
- Reimburse qualifying beneficiaries for a deceased worker’s actual burial costs (up to $6,000), and pay income benefits to qualifying beneficiaries.
Alternative coverages, such as accident and health policies, employer indemnification agreements, and disability policies often leave gaps in coverage, limit medical benefits, and exclude some illnesses, diseases and accidents. Read the policy conditions, exclusions and limitations carefully before you recommend an alternative policy.
Premium discounts
Premium costs are the leading reason that nonsubscribers opt out of the system. Make sure they know that they can lower their premium by joining a Safety Group.
A Safety Group includes employers in similar industries. Each member gets a premium discount based on the group’s premium volume. They also have access to an industry-specific safety plan and potential dividends if they control their losses.
Texas Mutual offers 27 Safety Groups representing a range of industries. Visit the Agents section at texasmutual.com for more information.
Control over claims
Premium prices are followed closely by medical costs as reasons that employers opt out of the workers’ comp system. Policyholders who choose Texas Mutual’s workers’ comp health care network enjoy lower medical costs and faster return-to-work times than non-network policyholders.
See the Winter 2008 issue of CompNews for details about the state’s second annual network report card.
Want to know more?
For more information about workers’ compensation and its alternatives, visit tdi.state.tx.us/pubs/consumer/cb007.html.
MUTUAL INTERESTS - Winter 2008
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