Gallagher Bassett We Guide. We Guard. We Go Beyond.

   1.  

The first two sessions focused on employee age and how that factor conditions/determines what happens in the workplace. The opening session, Generational Differences and Stereotypes in the Workplace, provided an in-depth look at what the different generations - Boomers, Xers, Millennials, and the new Alphas (and, yes, our valiant little band of War Babies who just won't quit) - want in their work experience. The latest research strongly suggests - and I find this reassuring - that all the generations really want about the same satisfactions from work, however differently these preferences may be expressed. A perhaps bittersweet summary of how the generations actually come together can be seen in this survey result: 84% of millennials are concerned about retirement, as are 91% of Xers, and 88% of Boomers. One difference, however - Millennials would really like Boomers to figure out how to use Track Changes in Word. Seems to be a big point of divergence.
 

   2.  

The companion session, How Do Claim Costs And Worker Outcomes Differ By Age?, focused on how injuries, claims, and outcomes change with employee age. The fact that us older workers refuse to retire makes this topic especially important. While Dr. Savych's look into the best current statistics was quite detailed, the most startling conclusion is quite simple - yes, injuries do change with age. Slip/trip/fall injuries become much more common with age and often include fractures, while soft tissue lower back claims actually become fewer. What caught my attention was the fact that claims costs do go up with age, BUT -

               a.  

The biggest bump in claim costs actually occurs around age 45 to 50 and then levels off through age 65.

               b.  

Claims costs for employees over 65 actually go down.

 
^{The age cost curve is not what you might expect.}

   3.  

A panel discussion of alternatives to opioids, Opioid Dispensing Trends and Alternatives for Pain Management, became very lively and included a goodly number of questions from the audience. The bottom line take-away is that we have much better control of the opioid monster now than just a few years ago as physicians continue to shift to non-opioid pain treatments in the world of workers' comp. On the other hand, we shouldn't forget that opioid dependency remains a major cause of death and disability outside our little clinical space.
 

   4.  

Two sessions after lunch looked at how the macro-economics of the business cycle impact claim frequency in comp and the curious lag factors involved. Macro events tend to show up in comp about six months after the actual events. Dr. Len Herk , chief economist of NCCI, had some fascinating charts showing how business cycles and claim cycles follow each other, but at a fairly consistent delay.
 

   5.  

Two Friday sessions call for special attention as well. NIOSH is now looking at total worker health and how these factors intersect the comp world. This has been a major area of focus for some time on the group health/HR side, but it is now gaining traction in terms of the interplay between population health and comp events and durations. The following panel focused on the role of mental health in comp claims and how it impacts RTW and durations overall. I found this an especially welcome discussion (vigorous audience interactions) since this aspect of comp has been neglected far too long.

How many Baby Boomers does it take to change a light bulb?
Not really sure, but they're going to have a day-long retreat to brainstorm on the issue and will report back their recommendations.

How many Gen Xers does it take to change a light bulb?
Just one - the slacker who blew off the brainstorming session.

How many Millennials does it take to change a light bulb?
All of them! And they worked as a team! And it was the best light bulb changing any generation ever did – so they want a trophy!