Texas Mutual Insurance Company

Actor Sentenced on Workers’ Compensation Fraud Charges

September 29, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that a Travis County district court sentenced a Fort Worth woman on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges.

The court ordered Sheran Keyton to repay $3,146 to Texas Mutual, perform 80 hours of community service and serve one year of deferred adjudication.

Keyton reported a job-related injury while working as an actor for the Dallas Children’s Theatre. She claimed she was unable to work as a result of the injury, and Texas Mutual Insurance Company began paying her income benefits.

Meanwhile, Texas Mutual uncovered evidence that Keyton was working in a similar job 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.

Claimants Allegedly Collect $29K in Benefits Illegally

September 22, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that Travis County grand juries indicted six claimants, in separate cases, on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. The claimants allegedly collected a combined $29,205 in benefits they were not entitled to.

Here are the individuals who were indicted and the amount in benefits they allegedly collected illegally: Bobby Phifer of Greenville, $10,221; Tobias Arias of Tyler, $10,100; Jorge Barajas of Dallas, $3,232; Heide Bolton of DeRidder, LA, $2,376; Charles Richter of Austin, $1,679; Robert Rosette of Port Arthur, $1,597.

All six cases involved 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. State law requires injured workers to notify their insurance carrier when they return to work.

Double-dipping and other workers’ comp fraud scams can lead to higher premiums for all Texas employers.

Note: A grand jury indictment is a formal accusation – not a conviction – of criminal conduct.

CompGroup AGC Members Share in $1.4M Texas Mutual Dividend

September 8, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, announced a $1,377,679 dividend to the CompGroup AGC purchasing group today. The group, which includes qualifying Associated General Contractors members, has earned nearly $14 million in dividends since 2002.

The group dividends are based largely on CompGroup AGC’s favorable loss ratio. By committing to workplace safety and helping injured workers return to productive employment, the group improves its chances of qualifying for future dividends.*

Get more information about dividends at http://www.texasmutual.com/news/dividendhistory.shtm.

CompGroup AGC members are also eligible to participate in Texas Mutual’s individual policyholder dividend program. The company has distributed more than $670 million in individual dividends since 1999:

Texas law allows employers in similar industries to buy their workers’ comp insurance as a group.
CompGroup AGC is open to contractors and subcontractors.
Group members get a discount on their workers’ comp premium and an industry-specific safety plan.
Any licensed Texas agent can submit clients for consideration.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Texas Mutual Announces Premium Fraud Indictment

September 3, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced today that a Travis County grand jury indicted Ronald Hernandez of Austin and his business, A&R Interests LLC., on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges.

A&R Interests LLC. was a temporary labor company that specialized in construction site clean-up. Texas Mutual alleged that between February 6, 2004 and May 1, 2008, Hernandez intentionally gave Texas Mutual false information about his workforce and business relationships in his applications for insurance coverage and provided incomplete payroll records.

Because workers’ compensation insurance premium is based, in part, on payroll, this type of scheme results in an employer being charged a lower premium than it actually owes. By hiding payroll, an employer can gain an unfair advantage over competitors.

Note: A grand jury indictment is a formal accusation – not a conviction – of criminal conduct.

Lumber and Wood Group Earns $83K Texas Mutual Dividend

September 2, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, announced an $83,718 dividend to the
Texas Lumber and Wood Products (TLWP) purchasing group today.

The dividend is based largely on TLWP’s favorable loss ratio. By committing to workplace safety and helping injured workers return to productive employment, the group improves its chances of qualifying for future dividends.*

Get more information about dividends at http://www.texasmutual.com/news/dividendhistory.shtm.

TLWP members are also eligible to participate in Texas Mutual’s individual policyholder dividend program. The company has distributed more than $670 million in individual dividends since 1999.

Texas law allows employers in similar industries to buy their workers’ comp insurance as a group.
TLWP is open to loggers, sawmills and most forms of wood products manufacturing, including window, door, casing, cabinet and truss manufacturers.
Group members get a discount on their workers’ comp premium and an industry-specific safety plan.
Any licensed Texas agent can submit clients for consideration.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Texas Mutual Promotes Lisa Corless to COO

September 1, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced the promotion of Lisa Corless from senior vice president of claim and underwriting operations to chief operating officer. She will oversee the company’s claim, information technology, underwriting, actuarial and premium audit functions.

Corless replaces former COO Ron Wright, who was promoted to president by Texas Mutual’s board of directors.

“Lisa’s promotion to COO ensures a seamless leadership transition for our employees, our policyholders and their agents,” said Wright. “She understands the workers’ compensation market and Texas Mutual’s unique role in it. She will draw on her diverse experience to help us in our focused, deliberate approach to serving Texas employers and their employees.”

Corless joined Texas Mutual in 1998 as manager of its Houston regional office claim department. She also served as manager of the Lubbock and Dallas regional offices prior to becoming vice president of claim field operations in July 2001. In 2005, the company appointed her senior vice president of claim and information services. Last year, she assumed the additional duties of providing operations leadership to Texas Mutual’s underwriting and actuarial services division.

“I have had the opportunity to be mentored by some very strong leaders during my tenure at Texas Mutual,” said Corless. “Under their guidance, this company has emerged as Texas’ leading choice for workers' compensation insurance. I will work hard to ensure we remain financially strong and prepared to serve Texans long into the future.”

Texas Mutual Announces Underwriting Leadership Changes

September 1, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company has hired Steve Math as senior vice president of underwriting. The company also announced that Cecily Gallagher, former senior vice president of underwriting and actuarial services, has assumed her new role as corporate actuary and chief risk officer.

Math will oversee the company’s underwriting, marketing and loss prevention services. Gallagher will provide actuarial analysis of long-term and critical strategic issues for senior management and the board. She will also oversee the pricing and reserving actuarial function, head up risk quantification analysis, and assist with risk mitigation efforts.

“Texas Mutual has made a long-term commitment to our state’s employers and their employees,” said Ron Wright, Texas Mutual president. “Steve, Cecily and their teams will ensure that we price responsibly and reserve conservatively today, so that we remain financially stable long into the future.”

Math most recently served as senior vice president and chief actuary of Argo Insurance Group, the parent company of Argonaut Specialty. Prior to that, he served in chief actuary roles at ACE Insurance Group and CNA. He holds a bachelor’s in mathematics from MIT and a master’s in management from the University of Texas at Dallas. He has earned the Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society designation, the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter designation, and the Member of the American Academy of Actuaries designation.

Prior to joining Texas Mutual in 1998, Gallagher worked as a consultant and principal with Tillinghast/Towers Perrin for almost 20 years. She earned a bachelor’s in mathematics from Trinity University in San Antonio and a master’s in statistics from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Texas Mutual Dividend Fuels Energy Group’s Profits

August 26, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, announced a $63,128 dividend to the Lone Star Energy (LSE) purchasing group today.

The group has earned more than $315,000 in dividends since 2005, based largely on its favorable loss ratio. By committing to workplace safety and helping injured workers return to productive employment, LSE improves its chances of qualifying for future dividends.*

Get more information about dividends at http://www.texasmutual.com/news/dividendhistory.shtm.

LSE group members are also eligible to participate in Texas Mutual’s individual policyholder dividend program. The company has distributed more than $670 million in individual dividends since 1999:

Texas law allows employers in similar industries to buy their workers’ comp insurance as a group.
The LSE purchasing group is open to qualifying butane/propane gas operators and dealers.
Group members get a discount on their workers’ comp premium and an industry-specific safety plan.
Any licensed Texas agent can submit clients for consideration.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Texas Mutual Earns High Performer Designation

August 24, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company was recognized as a “high performer” in the Performance-Based Oversight (PBO) report issued by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) on Friday.

The PBO report evaluates carriers’ timeliness in submitting required data to the DWC, paying health care providers for their services and delivering income benefits to injured workers.

“In many cases, benefit checks are injured workers’ only means of putting food on the table and a roof over their heads,” said Lisa Corless, Texas Mutual senior vice president of claim and underwriting operations.

“We take our responsibility to injured workers and their families seriously. We will continue working hard to minimize the consequences of workplace injuries and make Texas a safer, more productive place to work,” added Corless.

The PBO report is a product of House Bill 7, passed during the 2005 legislative session. The bill requires the DWC to assess insurance carriers and health care providers against regulatory goals established by the commissioner of workers’ compensation.

For more information about PBO, visit www.tdi.state.tx.us/wc/pbo/documents/pbo2009.pdf.

Texas Mutual Announces $200K Verdict in Premium Fraud Case

August 20, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that Erection Professionals Inc. in Pleasanton pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. A Travis County district court ordered the company to repay $200,000 to Texas Mutual.

Erection Professionals, owned by Gregory S. Dicaro, was in the business of erecting metal buildings. Texas Mutual alleged that from April 2004 to July 2006 and February 2007 to August 2007, Erection Professionals intentionally misrepresented the number of its employees and its payroll to Texas Mutual.

Sign Association Earns Texas Mutual Dividend

August 6, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, announced a $72,352 dividend to the Texas Sign Association (TSA) Comp Group Inc. today.

The dividend is based largely on TSA’s favorable loss ratio. By committing to workplace safety and helping injured workers return to productive employment, TSA improves its chances of qualifying for future dividends.*

Get more information about dividends at http://www.texasmutual.com/news/dividendhistory.shtm.

TSA Comp Group Inc. members are also eligible to participate in Texas Mutual’s individual policyholder dividend program. The company has distributed more than $670 million in individual dividends since 1999:

Texas law allows employers in similar industries to buy their workers’ comp insurance as a group.
TSA Comp Group Inc. is open to companies that are part of the on-premises sign industry.
Group members get a discount on their workers’ comp premium and an industry-specific safety plan.
Any licensed Texas agent can submit clients for consideration.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Texas Mutual Dividend Helps Nonprofits Continue to Serve

July 30, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, announced a $179,324 dividend to the Social Services Agencies of Texas (SSA) purchasing group today.

The dividend is based largely on SSA’s commitment to preventing workplace accidents and helping injured employees return to work.

“In these difficult times, every dollar counts,” said Priscilla Archer of Care Providers Insurance Services LLC, the group’s administrator. “We partnered with Texas Mutual to help nonprofit organizations stretch their budgets. This dividend will help our clients continue to serve their communities.”

SSA group members have shared in more than $1 million in group dividends since 2005. Members are also eligible to participate in Texas Mutual’s individual policyholder dividend program. The company has distributed more than
$733 million in group and individual dividends since 1999:

Texas law allows employers in similar industries to buy their workers’ comp insurance as a group.
The SSA purchasing group is open to qualifying community action agencies, senior citizen programs, after-school programs and other social service agencies.
Group members get a discount on their workers’ comp premium and an industry-specific safety plan.
Any licensed Texas agent can submit clients for consideration.

Get more information about dividends at http://www.texasmutual.com/news/dividendhistory.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 Pays $75M in Policyholder Dividends

July 28, 2009 - Today, Texas Mutual Insurance Company began distributing $75 million in workers’ compensation dividends. Approximately 38,000 business owners, representing 79 percent of the company’s policyholders, will receive a dividend as a reward for committing to workplace safety.

“We have a permanent, vested interest in helping Texas businesses thrive,” said Bob Barnes, chairman of Texas Mutual’s board of directors. “We 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 is 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.

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 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 helping keep Texas workers healthy and productive,” added Oliver. “Positive outcomes like these are the results of our efforts to promote effective, high-quality medical treatment for injured workers. Doing so also helps control costs, which contributes to our ability to pay future dividends as financial conditions allow.”

Texas Mutual notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Emergency Service Group Earns Texas Mutual Dividend

July 21, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, announced a $53,479 dividend to the Emergency Service Organization (ESO) purchasing group today.

The dividend is based largely on ESO’s favorable loss ratio. By committing to workplace safety and helping injured workers return to productive employment, the group improves its chances of qualifying for future dividends.*

Get more information about dividends at texasmutual.com/news/dividendhistory.shtm.

ESO group members have shared in more than $500,000 of group dividends since 2002. Members are also eligible to participate in Texas Mutual’s individual policyholder dividend program. The company has distributed more than $670 million in individual dividends since 1999.

Texas law allows employers in similar industries to buy their workers’ comp insurance as a group.
The ESO purchasing group is open to qualifying fire departments and nonprofit EMS organizations.
Group members get a discount on their workers’ comp premium and an industry-specific safety plan.
Any licensed Texas agent can submit clients for consideration.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

Construction Group Earns $2.7M Texas Mutual Dividend

July 16, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, announced a $2,693,734 dividend to the Texas Construction Association purchasing group today.

The dividend is based largely on the group’s favorable loss ratio. By committing to workplace safety and helping injured workers return to productive employment, the group improves its chances of qualifying for future dividends.*

Get more information about dividends at http://www.texasmutual.com/news/dividendhistory.shtm.

Texas Construction Association group members have shared in more than
$7 million in group dividends since 2005. Members are also eligible to participate in Texas Mutual’s individual policyholder dividend program. The company has distributed more than $670 million in individual dividends since 1999:

Texas law allows employers in similar industries to buy their workers’ comp insurance as a group.
Group members get a discount on their workers’ comp premium and an industry-specific safety plan.
The Texas Construction Association purchasing group is open to qualifying subcontractors.
Any licensed Texas agent can submit clients for consideration.

*Past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends. The Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.

TxOGA Earns $4.5M Texas Mutual Dividend

July 6, 2009 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced a $4.5 million dividend to Texas Oil & Gas Association (TxOGA) workers’ compensation purchasing group today. This marks the largest group dividend in Texas Mutual’s history. It is based primarily on TxOGA’s premium volume and loss ratio.

For TxOGA President Rob Looney, the announcement was a welcome surprise in today’s troubled economy.

“There’s no question our industry is in a slow-down,” said Looney. “With natural gas prices down from $12 per thousand cubic feet to less than $4, drilling is less than half the pace of last year. The dividend will go a long way toward helping TxOGA members survive during the recession and come back stronger than ever.”

The TxOGA purchasing group has earned $12.7 million in dividends from Texas Mutual since 2001. Many members have also earned a share of the more than
$670 million in individual policyholder dividends that Texas Mutual has paid during the past 11 years.

In addition to potential dividends, TxOGA purchasing group members get a discount on their workers’ compensation premium and an industry-specific safety plan.

Any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for consideration in the TxOGA purchasing group. For more information, visit texasmutual.com/agents/pr_txoga.shtm.

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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