Table of Contents Safety & Workers’ Agenda 1 Guest Speaker Bio 2 Compensation OMA Public Policy Report 3 OMA News & Analysis 5 Committee OMA Bill Tracker 12 Workers' Compensation Policy Priorities DRAFT 14 Thursday, June 21, 2012 OMA Counsel Report 16 Roetzel & Andress Blog: Extra Precautions for 18 Ohio Industrial Commission Hearings When All Three of the Members are Not Present Overview of Medical Marijuana Ballot Initiatives and 19 Potential Concerns for Ohio Manufacturers Calfee Report: OSHA Issues Enforcement 22 Memorandum Draft letter to Richard E. Fairfax, OSHA Deputy 24 Assistant Secretary Additional materials: Base Rates 27 SI Assessment PowerPoint Presentation 29 Destination Excellence 44 2012 Safety & Workers’ OMA Safety & Workers’ Compensation Committee Compensation Committee Meeting Sponsor: Calendar Thursday, June 21 BWC Administrator, Steve Buehrer - Confirmed Thursday, November 8 OMA Safety & Workers’ Compensation Committee June 21, 2012 AGENDA Welcome & Self-Introductions Bob Truex, Lancaster Colony, Committee Chair BWC Developments Dennis Davis, OMA Staff Statehouse / Public Policy Ryan Augsburger, OMA Staff Report / Legislative Policy Priorities OMA Counsel’s Report Tom Sant of Bricker & Eckler, LLP Safety / OSHA Report Diane Grote Adams, Safex New Business – OSHA William Ross, Calfee Halter & Griswold, LLP Enforcement Trends Medical Marijuana Ballot Issues Cavett Kreps of Bricker & Eckler, LLP Guest Speakers Steve Buehrer, BWC Administrator Please RSVP to attend this meeting (indicate if you are attending in-person or by teleconference) by contacting Judy: [email protected] or (614) 224-5111 or toll free at (800) 662-4463. Additional committee meetings or teleconferences, if needed, will be scheduled at the call of the Chair. Page 1 of 51 OhioBWC - Common: Stephen Buehrer Administrator/CEO Stephen Buehrer Ohio Governor John Kasich appointed Steve Buehrer as Administrator/CEO of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation in January 2011. He leads an agency of 2,000 employees that serves more than 225,000 employers and 1.3 million injured workers. Known for his focus on fiscal responsibility, creating jobs, and emphasizing technology, Steve has helped engineer significant improvements within various levels of government over the past 20 years. He also has extensive experience with workers’ compensation, previously serving as BWC’s Chief of Human Resources. As a senator, Steve served as chairman of the Insurance, Commerce and Labor committee which oversaw all workers’ compensation legislation. Steve was a member of the Ohio Senate from 2007 until 2011. In addition to serving as the chairman of the Insurance, Commerce and Labor committee, he also was vice chairman of the Senate Highways & Transportation committee. In addition, Steve’s colleagues elected him majority whip, the fourth ranking leadership position in the Senate. He also received the Technology Advocate Legislator of the Year award for 2010 from Technology for Ohio’s Tomorrow. He won five Watchdog of the Treasury awards and was named National Legislator of the Year by the American Legislative Exchange Council in 2002. A nationally recognized leader, he serves as the chairman of the Midwest Council of State Government (CSG) and has served as national CSG vice chair. Steve also served as a state representative for Ohio's 82nd House District (Defiance, Fulton and Williams counties). First elected in 1998, he was subsequently re-elected in November 2000, when his district became the 74th, and again in November 2002 and 2004. Steve’s peers in the House recognized his leadership by electing him assistant majority floor leader for both the 124th and 125th General Assembly. As chairman of the State Government committee, he had responsibility for all workers’ compensation legislation. During his second and third terms as representative in the Ohio General Assembly, Steve authored and passed Ohio's two-year transportation budget, which provided funding for highway projects across the state. This legislation recreated the state’s transportation funding structure and provided additional transportation-related support for state and local governments. Beyond his legislative experience and accomplishments, Steve also has extensive experience in state government. Aside from serving as the Chief of Human Resources at BWC, he also was the Director of Legislative Affairs at the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services. Following that assignment, Steve served six months at the Ohio Department of Human Services, at the request of Governor George Voinovich, assisting with multiple management-improvement initiatives. He later accepted a position as Deputy Director at the Ohio Department of Administrative Services where he oversaw the communications and legislative offices and later the State Human Resources Division. Steve earned a bachelor’s in social studies education graduating summa cum laude from Bowling Green State University. He later earned his juris doctor from Capital University Law School graduating cum laude. He’s married to his wife Cathy and has three sons, Benjamin, Simon and Daniel. Page 2 of 51 TO: OMA Safety & Workers’ Compensation Committee FROM: Ryan Augsburger DATE: June 6, 2012 SUBJ: Safety and Workers’ Comp Policy Update Overview 2012 is a presidential campaign year. It appears the opportunity for meaningful policy reforms has passed. Following the defeat of state issue 2, a victory for labor groups, state leaders have backtracked from legislative reform efforts. Policymakers are wary of enacting reform legislation that could be overturned by opponents in a referendum. Legislation In late January, Ohio Speaker of the House William Batchelder announced his priorities included “plans to reform the BWC, building upon existing reforms to go further in assisting injured workers while identifying other cost-saving possibilities.” A package of workers comp bills (HB 516, HB 517, and HB 518) were introduced in mid- April amid a press conference and expedited schedule for hearings. Within days, the bills were pulled from the committee calendar in the Ohio House. No official reason was given. The measures are opposed by trial lawyers and labor unions. The bills are supported by Bureau of Workers' Compensation Administrator Steve Buehrer. The OMA supports HB 517. The bills, and particularly the main reform measure (HB 517), provide common sense improvements in the medical system that supports injured workers. The legislation would bring the Ohio system close to the 21st century in its use of modern tools for care management, tools that are used by all health insurance and disability insurance carriers in the U.S., including provider panels and provider outcome measurements. It is a continuing shame to Ohio that the state’s workers’ compensation system remains mired in an outdated and costly medical care management program that so often fails both injured workers and employers. In other business PEO legislation remains mired in the House. The Ohio Senate concluded work on SB 139 (Hughes, R-Columbus) to enact financial safeguards against PEOs, sending the measure to the Ohio House where the bill sits today. SB 323 (Seitz, R-Cincinnati) would prohibit illegal and unauthorized aliens from receiving compensation and certain benefits under Ohio's Workers' Compensation Law. The bill has not advanced. The OMA Safety & Workers Comp Committee reviewed this bill at their February meeting. Opportunities for administrative actions to change the rules and operating procedures of the BWC seem to be more likely than legislation. Page 3 of 51 Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Among administrative reforms already enacted is the premium discount program, GrowOhio created earlier this year for new employers to the state. More recently, a rule package known as the Destination: Excellence Program will streamline existing premium discount programs such as discounts for instituting drug-free safety programs, utilizing vocational rehab services, and clarifying limitations on stacked discounts, and deductible programs. The package is intended to simplify these and other existing programs while instituting new discount programs for making electronic payments and awarding new grant funds for employers and employees in returning injured workers to work. A discount to promote wellness programs was also instituted earlier this year. See attached news and analysis. Also see article detailing BWC program to restrict pharmacy formularies. Unemployment Compensation Like many states, Ohio’s fund to pay unemployment compensation claims was depleted in early 2010. The state has borrowed federal funds ($2.3 billion). Minimum repayments were required beginning September 2011 (nearly $300 in interest alone in the 2012/13 biennial budget). Eventually Ohio employers could see a premium increase to repay the federal loans and restore the state fund, probably coupled with cost cuts. That will require law change and is unlikely until after the election. Some employers with high experience ratings will see FUTA tax increases as long as the state is in arrears. Privatization / Competition: No action to report of a House drafted legislative proposal or on Senate study activity on the topic. The business community has been slow to embrace possible systemic changes, potentially because there is no good data available to model the effects. Page 4 of 51 Safety and Workers' largest net gains in employer accounts were Frank Gates Managed Care Services (+4,655), Compensation Management CompManagement Health