Austin Man Indicted for Workers’ Comp Fraud
June 29, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that a Travis County grand jury indicted an Austin man on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Wallace Sorrells allegedly obtained $6,197 in workers’ compensation benefits he was not entitled to.
Sorrells reported a job-related injury while working as a truck driver for Brumley Professional Employer Services in Bulverde. He claimed he was unable to work as a result of the injury, and Texas Mutual began paying him income benefits.
Meanwhile, Texas Mutual uncovered evidence that Sorrells worked for another company while receiving income benefits.
Investigators call this type of scam double-dipping because the claimant collects benefits for being too injured to work when he or she is, in fact, gainfully employed. Texas law requires claimants to contact their workers’ comp carrier when they return to work.Left unchecked, double-dipping and other workers’ comp fraud can lead to higher premiums for all Texas employers.
Note: A grand jury indictment is a formal accusation – not a conviction – of criminal conduct.
Texas Mutual Policyholders Elect Two New Members of Board of Directors
June 23, 2009 - Two new members of Texas Mutual Insurance Company’s Board of Directors—Bernie Francis of Carrollton, Texas, and Eric Oliver of Abilene, Texas—were elected Tuesday, June 23, at the company’s eighth annual policyholder meeting.
Francis is owner and CEO of Addison-based Business Control Systems LP and Dallas-based First Class Caregivers Inc., and a member of the board of Senior Quality Lifestyles Corp. He served three terms on the Carrollton City Council in the 1990s. Francis is former chairman of the Texas State University System Board of Regents, a board member of the North Central Texas Workforce Board and former chairman of the Texas State Technical College Board of Regents.
Oliver is founder and president of Softvest LP in Abilene; president of Midland Map Co. LLC in Midland; founder and principal of TenTex Music LLC in Nashville; founder and principal of Geologic Research Centers LLC, with libraries in Abilene and Midland; and founder and owner of Caprock Title Co. in Midland. He was appointed a director of Midland-based AMEN Properties Inc. in 2001 and was named chairman in 2002. Oliver serves on the boards of Autogas Systems Inc. and ACIMCO, Abilene Christian University’s endowment manager, and is a former member of the Abilene Community Foundation’s investment committee.
Russell R. Oliver, president of Texas Mutual, said: “Mr. Francis and Mr. Oliver are successful Texas businessmen who understand the value of a strong workers’ compensation system and our company’s role in the system. They will offer valuable perspectives in steering the company toward even greater success.”
Francis and Oliver will serve terms set to expire on July 1, 2015.
Four members of Texas Mutual’s Board of Directors are elected by the company’s policyholders. The governor appoints the five other members, including the chairman.
Home Builders Earn Texas Mutual Dividend
June 22, 2009 - The Texas Home Builders (THB) Safety Group has earned a $105,407 workers’ compensation dividend from Texas Mutual Insurance Company. The group dividend is based largely on the groups’ overall loss ratio.
Group dividends are separate from the $75 million in individual policyholder dividends Texas Mutual will distribute in July. THB members may receive dividends under both programs.
In addition to potential dividends, THB members get a discount on their workers’ compensation premium and an industry-specific safety plan. Most can earn an additional 12 percent annual premium discount by enrolling in Texas Mutual’s workers’ compensation health care network.
THB is open to most segments of the home-building industry. Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for consideration.
For more information, visit texasmutual.com/agents/pr_thb.shtm.
Texas Mutual notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
Texas Mutual Announces Two Fraud Convictions
June 12, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced today that two claimants were sentenced, in unrelated cases, on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges.
Michael Burnett of Graham, Texas and Connie Snowden of Bloomington, Texas collected more than $8,000 each in benefits they were not entitled to through a scam that investigators call double-dipping.
Double-dipping occurs when claimants collect benefits for being too injured to work when they are, in fact, gainfully employed. Texas law requires claimants to contact their workers’ comp carrier when they return to work.
A Travis County district court sentenced Burnett, a shop and rig hand for the oil industry, to five years’ probation and 100 hours of community service. It also ordered him to repay $8,736 to Texas Mutual.
Snowden, a licensed vocational nurse, was sentenced by a Navarro County district court to four years’ probation, 40 hours of community service and a $500 fine. The court also ordered Snowden to repay $8,088 to Texas Mutual.
Mt. Pleasant Man Pleads Guilty to Workers’ Comp Fraud
June 10, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that a Travis County district court sentenced Denniss A. Aguilar of Mt. Pleasant, Texas on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges.
The court sentenced Aguilar to four years’ probation and 40 hours of community service. It also ordered Aguilar to repay $16,676 to Texas Mutual.
Aguilar reported a job-related injury while working as a truck driver for Welder’s Equipment Inc. of Pasadena, Texas. He claimed he was unable to work as a result of the injury, and Texas Mutual began paying him income benefits.
Meanwhile, Texas Mutual uncovered evidence that Aguilar worked for four different employers while receiving income benefits.
Investigators call this type of scam double-dipping because the claimant collects benefits for being too injured to work when he or she is, in fact, gainfully employed. Texas law requires claimants to contact their workers’ comp carrier when they return to work.
Left unchecked, double-dipping and other workers’ comp fraud can lead to higher premiums for all Texas employers.
Equipment Dealers Earn Texas Mutual Dividend
June 9, 2009 - The Texas Machinery and Equipment Dealers (TM&E) Safety Group has earned an $87,803 workers’ compensation dividend from Texas Mutual Insurance Company. The dividend is based largely on the group’s overall loss ratio.
TM&E has earned $133,500 in group dividends during the past two years. Group dividends are separate from the $75 million in individual policyholder dividends that Texas Mutual’s board approved in May. TM&E members may receive dividends under both programs.
In addition to potential dividends, TM&E members get a percent premium discount and an industry-specific safety plan. Most can earn an additional 12 percent annual premium discount by enrolling in Texas Mutual’s workers’ compensation health care network.
TM&E is open to all types of machinery and equipment dealers. Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for group membership.
For more information, visit texasmutual.com/agents/pr_tmed.shtm.
Texas Mutual notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
Texas Mutual Encourages Oil and Gas Industry to Use Free Safety Resources
June 2, 2009 - Between 2003 and 2006, the oil and gas industry’s workplace fatality rate was seven times higher than the fatality rate in other industries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas recorded the most fatalities with 53, followed by Louisiana with 49.
To help employers keep their employees safe and on the job, Texas Mutual Insurance Company has posted free safety training resources on its website at texasmutual.com/safety/rtmain.shtm. Texas Mutual encourages industry employers to visit the site and learn how to control struck-by injuries, conduct a job hazard analysis, improve management safety accountability and investigate accident scenes.
The resources are products of the oil and gas safety roundtable hosted by Texas Mutual. The company formed the roundtable in 2005 and charged it with two tasks:
- Find out why oil and gas workers are dying on the job.
- Identify best practices for preventing accidents.
Roundtable members include representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Texas Oil and Gas Association, the Texas Department of Insurance and industry employers.
“We applaud the industry’s commitment to eliminating workplace accidents, and we recognize that to improve safety, we need additional resources,” said Mitch Walsh, vice president of underwriting services at Texas Mutual.
“That’s why we teamed our loss prevention consultants with regulatory and industry safety experts who share our commitment to preventing accidents associated with the prevalent issues of today. We want to deliver tools that help employers eliminate physical hazards and change the unsafe behaviors that cause injuries,” said Walsh.
Texas Mutual Board Approves $75M Policyholder Dividend Plan
May 27, 2009 - This afternoon, Texas Mutual Insurance Company’s board of directors approved a $75 million individual policyholder dividend plan. The company plans to mail dividend checks to approximately 37,000 employers, representing 77 percent of its policyholders, in late July.
“We have a permanent, vested interest in helping Texas businesses thrive,” said Bob Barnes, chairman of the board. “After we mail this year's checks, we will have pumped more than $670 million into our state’s economy through our individual policyholder dividend plans since 1999. Our policyholders have used those funds to expand their businesses, create jobs, pay skilled employees and improve their safety programs.”
The amount of each qualifying policyholder’s dividend check will be based largely on its premium size and loss ratio. Policyholders who prevent workplace accidents and control claim costs improve their chances of earning a dividend.
Texas Mutual offers free services to help policyholders improve their safety programs. Employers can visit the safety resource center at texasmutual.com to evaluate their safety program, correct the root causes of accidents and get training materials from the multimedia resource library. The company also offers free workshops that feature presentations by Texas Mutual safety professionals.
This year’s dividend announcement comes as the economy continues to suffer the worst slump since the Great Depression. Texas Mutual President Russ Oliver said that the company’s 11th consecutive dividend payout is a sign of its ongoing financial stability.
“We are not immune to the volatility in the markets,” stressed Oliver, “but we had a strong year in 2008. We wrote a record $768 million in premiums and, most importantly, retained 82 percent of our loyal customers. These dividends show that our policyholders are embracing our initiatives to prevent accidents and control costs.”
One of those initiatives is Texas Mutual’s workers’ compensation health care network. The company launched the network in 2006 to help injured workers get quality medical care, recover and return to productive employment.
The second annual network report card issued by the Texas Department of Insurance in October 2008 showed that medical costs on Texas Mutual’s in-network claims are 6 percent lower than non-network claims. Patients treated in the network return to work an average of 24 percent sooner than non-network patients.
“The network is doing its job of keeping Texas workers healthy and productive,” added Oliver. “Positive outcomes like these are crucial to our ability to control costs and consider paying future dividends.”
Texas Mutual notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the 2009 dividend plan still requires Texas Department of Insurance approval.
Texas Mutual Launches Safety Program for Teenage Workers in Lubbock Area
April 23, 2009 - With the goal of reducing the number of workplace injuries among teen workers, Texas Mutual Insurance Company and its partners on April 23 kicked off the One Wrong Move campaign in Lubbock.
Through brochures, billboards, radio commercials, mall advertising and the OneWrongMove.org Web site, the campaign will inform teens, parents and employers in the Lubbock area about workplace hazards and how to prevent them. The message of the campaign is “Workplace Accidents Are a Pain. Work Smart.”
“With this campaign, Texas Mutual and its partners aim to educate people in the Lubbock area about how to avoid workplace accidents among 16- to 19-year-olds,” Russell R. Oliver, president of Texas Mutual, said. “One wrong move in the workplace—a restaurant or a retail store, for instance—certainly can result in life-changing injuries for a teen worker.”
The One Wrong Move campaign is being tested in the Lubbock area. Representatives of Texas Mutual, the Lubbock City Council, the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce and the Lubbock Independent School District launched the campaign at the Brady’s Dairy Queen at 7813 Slide Road.
Aside from Brady’s Dairy Queen and the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, employers participating in the One Wrong Move campaign include Caprock Business Forms; Chicken Express; Children’s Home of Lubbock; Crenshaw, Dupree & Milam, LLP; Fastbreak/Balco Electric; Greer Electric; Lubbock YMCA; Schlotzsky’s; South Plains Mall; and South Plains Service Electric.
Insurance agents participating in the One Wrong Move campaign include Glen Morton Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, Jake Montoya Insurance; Sanford & Tatum Insurance, TCSC Insurance Agency and Wayne Lawley Insurance Agency.
A cornerstone of the One Wrong Move campaign is an online workplace safety quiz. Teens in the Lubbock area are invited to visit the campaign’s Web site to take the quiz; after successfully completing the quiz, each participant will receive a free ticket to a movie at Cinemark Theatres.
Data from Texas Mutual policyholders shows the most common injuries among employees under age 21 are strains and injuries from lifting, and cuts, punctures and scrapes. Among those policyholders, businesses in the leisure and hospitality industry account for the bulk of work-related injuries among employees 16 to 19.
About 80 percent of U.S. teens work during their high school years, many of them during the summer, according to the American Society of Safety Engineers. In 2007, the United States had about 6 million workers ages 16 to 19, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nationally, about 230,000 teens suffer work-related injuries each year, with 77,000 of them requiring treatment at emergency rooms, according to the American Society of Safety Engineers.
The National Pediatric Trauma Registry and the National Center for Health Statistics report that occupational injuries are the fourth-leading cause of death among Americans age 10 to 19. In Texas, there were 14 workplace deaths among 18- and 19-year-olds in 2007 but no workplace deaths among 16- and 17-year-olds, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Young workers are exposed to many of the same on-the-job risks as their adult counterparts, but are more likely to be injured at work than grown-ups, the American Society of Safety Engineers says. A nationwide survey released in 2007 by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicates about one-third of teen workers have not undergone workplace safety training.
A study financed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that the most common jobs for teens are in restaurants, babysitting, lawn care, family-owned businesses, family-run farms, grocery stores and department stores.
For more information, visit www.onewrongmove.org
Produce Group Earns Texas Mutual Dividend
April 16, 2009 - The Texas Produce Association (TPA) workers’ compensation Safety Group has earned a $67,394 dividend from Texas Mutual Insurance Company. The dividend is based largely on TPA’s overall loss ratio.
TPA has earned $180,965 in Texas Mutual group dividends since 2006. Many TPA members have also qualified for a share of the more than $595 million Texas Mutual has paid to individual policyholders during the past 10 years. In addition to potential dividends, TPA members get a premium discount and an industry-specific safety plan.
Most can earn an additional 12 percent annual premium discount by enrolling in Texas Mutual’s workers’ compensation health care network.
Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for TPA consideration.
Texas Mutual notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
Schools Group Earns $397K Texas Mutual Dividend
April 9, 2009 - The Texas Schools Group (TSG) has earned a $397,477 workers’ compensation dividend from Texas Mutual Insurance Company. The Safety Group dividend is based largely on TSG’s overall loss ratio.
TSG has earned $1.2 million in Texas Mutual group dividends since 2005. Many TSG members have also qualified for a share of the more than $595 million Texas Mutual has paid to individual policyholders during the past 10 years.
In addition to potential dividends, TSG members get a premium discount and an industry-specific safety plan. Most can earn an additional 12 percent annual premium discount by enrolling in Texas Mutual’s workers’ compensation health care network.
Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for TSG consideration.
Texas Mutual notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
Ron Wright Appointed President and CEO of Texas Mutual Insurance Company
April 6, 2009 - Ron Wright, chief operating officer of Texas Mutual Insurance Company since 1997, will become president and CEO of the company effective Sept. 1, 2009, Texas Mutual announced April 6.
Wright will succeed Russell R. Oliver, who announced his retirement in February. Oliver has worked at Texas Mutual since 1994; he was named president and CEO the following year.
Bob Barnes, chairman of the Texas Mutual Board of Directors, said: “Ron Wright’s promotion to the role of president and CEO provides Texas Mutual with great continuity and stability. Ron knows the company and its history well, and he has brought great experience and expertise to the position of chief operating officer, as he will do in his new role as president and CEO. We are looking forward to a very smooth leadership transition.”
Two years ago, Texas Mutual launched the Executive Management Succession Planning Project to prepare for the eventual retirement of Oliver. Wright’s move to the role of president and CEO was approved by the Board of Directors.
Wright said: “I am inheriting from Russ the leadership of a company that is financially strong and is run by a strong team of people. I am privileged to have the opportunity to continue Russ’ legacy of success at Texas Mutual and to build on the foundation established under Russ’ leadership.”
Wright has had a distinguished career in the insurance industry. Before joining Texas Mutual in 1997, Wright served as senior vice president of workers’ compensation for Travelers Aetna Property and Casualty Corporation.
Back to topManufacturing Group Earns $472K Texas Mutual Dividend
April 3, 2009 - The Texas Association of Manufacturers (TAM) Safety Group has earned a $472,252 workers’ compensation dividend from Texas Mutual Insurance Company. The dividend, which is the group’s second since its inception in 2006, is based largely on its overall loss ratio.
Many TAM members have also qualified for a share of the more than $595 million Texas Mutual has paid to individual policyholders during the past 10 years.
In addition to potential dividends, TAM members get an 11 percent premium discount and an industry-specific safety plan. Most can earn an additional
12 percent annual premium discount by enrolling in Texas Mutual’s workers’ compensation health care network.
TAM is open to most manufacturing classification codes. Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for consideration.
Texas Mutual notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
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