Dave Kaplan

WSIA Executive Director

June 2009

In any "normal" year, many organizations use summer as a time to get caught up on projects that would otherwise never get done.  It's a chance for doing the corporate "spring cleaning" that would otherwise be done ... well ... in spring.  But this year has a different feel to it, as if there is no down-time or slow-time to focus on such things.  The same is true at WSIA.

While we've taken a bit of a breather since the Annual Conference, our focus has been on following on-going activities and gearing up for the 2009-10 program year.

First, the outgoing and incoming Board of Directors will hold their annual Transitional meeting and retreat June 24-26.  This is an opportunity for your Board to focus on specific issues important in the field of workers' compensation, and in the operations of the Association to better provide you the services you need.  It's one of the few times there is an opportunity to reflect on long-range issues, rather than having to fight the immediate fires that always seem to garner to bulk of our attention.

The Membership & Marketing Committee, Program Committee, and Legislative Committee have already scheduled their first meetings of the year.  Membership & Marketing is meeting June 10th, with a focus on membership retention and recruitment.  The Program Committee will hold its planning meeting on Friday, July 17th at the City of Redmond.  And the Legislative Committee will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, Juy 22nd at Simpson Investment in Tacoma.  All members can particpate in the first two committees, and employer members, Third Party Administrators, and attorneys can participate in the Legislative Committee.  We really do need your participation on these committees to ensure you get the issues you wish to see addressed.  If you wish to attend, please email Kaye Thede at kaye.thede@wsiassn.org.

Aside from the Board and Committees gearing up for another great year, WSIA is working to keep you up to date on a number of important issues.  While impossible to mention all of them, here are but a few of the more notable ones: Medicare Reporting; self-insured assessments; SIEDRS reporting; Certification testing and Continuing Education Credits; rules covering claim suppression, IME provider qualifications, vocational rehabilitation, hospitalization (at our request, to fix an issue), and a host of other topics; oral arguments on the Tobin decision (dealing with third party recovery) on which we filed an amicus brief; and getting the Department to follow through on streamlining and standardizing the documentation required by both the State Fund and self-insurers for determining wages and setting time loss.  Most of these topics will be covered in the monthly FYI news column here at the website, or by our Region Directors at their upcoming meetings.

The last thing I wish to share with you is the importance of renewing your organization's membership in WSIA.  It's easy to target membership dues as an "administrative expense" to be cut during tough economic times.  We are well-aware of that.  But it's important for you and your organization to remember that your dues in WSIA is a wise investment.  Even for our highest dues paying members, all it takes is ONE thing you learn at one of our conferences, region meetings, training programs ... ONE bad piece of legislation stopped in its tracks, or rule amended to make more sense and have less impact ... ONE liaison meeting with the Department on a specific claim issue, or discussion with Judy Schurke on a broader policy issue ... to save your company time, aggravation, and money far in excess of the cost of a membership.  That is what the Washington Self-Insurers Association has been doing since 1972, and what we will continue to do for you as long as we have your financial and volunteer support.   It's hard to put a price tag on that!

Until next time …

Dave Kaplan

WSIA Executive Director

dave.kaplan@wsiassn.org

Posted 9 June 2009

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