Alternative Workers’ Compensation Risk Financing Options to Consider

Pennachio Details Two Financing Plans in Upcoming Webinars

Beginning July 11, 2012, insurance professionals have the opportunity to gain insight into two alternative risk financing options for their workers’ compensation clients. Frank Pennachio, co-founder of the WorkComp Advisory Group, will conduct two webinars for the Academy of Insurance focused on alternative means of financing workers’ compensation: retrospective rating plans and large deductible rating plans.

Pennachio, an agent, broker, consultant, and trainer for more than 35 years, says that his training approach integrates sales skills with technical and implementation skills because he believes there is much more to risk management than just selling insurance.

“To fill somebody (a producer) with technical knowledge can be a detriment to an agent if all they then know how to do is go out and do a ‘brain dump’ on a prospective client who doesn’t have a clue as to what they’re talking about,” Pennachio says. “It creates confusion, and when confusion is created, people don’t change. The whole purpose of this ‘business of growing your business’ is to have people change, because they’re at greater risk if they don’t.”

As insurance rates begin to rise, Pennachio believes employers are going to seek alternative risk financing vehicles to cover many of their exposures, including workers’ compensation. Pennachio focuses on alternative financing mechanisms, like retrospective rating plans and large deductibles, in his two upcoming webinars.

In these webinars Pennachio explains the mechanics of each alternative, the pros and cons of each program, and how to analyze which clients fit into one of these programs.

“There’s never a program or rating plan that does not have advantages and disadvantages,” Pennachio says. “There’s a lot of misunderstandings and confusion around how they work — what’s the upside and downside. They can be tremendously valuable to their customers. They can also have significant adverse impact on their customers.”

Beyond detailing each option, Pennachio also will tell students what to look for in a claims administration agreement, as well as how to structure it so that every party has an incentive.

“We like to call it aligning the incentives, where everybody has an incentive to make sure that the injured employee gets the right medical treatment at the right time and recovers as soon as possible.”

The dates for these webinars are July 11 and September 27. Pennachio’s live webinar detailing retrospective rating plans will be held on July 11. His second webinar discussing large deductible plans runs live on September 27. Both webinars begin at 1:30 p.m. Eastern (10:30 a.m. Pacific).

For more information: www.ijacademy.com.

Topics Workers' Compensation Talent