Compensation board has pared claims payout

The Yukon Workers' Compensation, Health and Safety Board has cut its expenses by $320,000 and paid out $4 million less in claims in 2007, but there is still no word on when or how much employers' assessment rates will fall.

The Yukon Workers’ Compensation, Health and Safety Board has cut its expenses by $320,000 and paid out $4 million less in claims in 2007, but there is still no word on when or how much employers’ assessment rates will fall.

“For the remainder of this year, the rates have been set and the rates for 2009 won’t be set until sometime in the fall,“ board chair Craig Tuton said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s way too early to say whether there’s going to be any rate increases or decreases at this point.“

The average rate Yukon employers pay for every $100 of assessable payroll is $2.94, but can fluctuate between $1.10 and $11.73, depending on a job’s risk factor.

It is one of the highest rates in the country, and has long been a bone of contention among Yukon employers.

Part of the board’s strategy for reducing this burden has been to promote injury prevention and hire an internal investigator to ensure all claims are legitimate.

According to Tuton, since the board hired the investigator in July 2007, two potentially fraudulent claims have been uncovered.

Had the board paid out both claims (to the point the claimants reached age 65), it would have totalled $1.5 million.

“These were workers who are living outside the territory, who had recovered but who hadn’t been quite honest in the extent of their recovery with their medical providers,“ said board president and CEO Valerie Royle, who added both accounts have since been closed and payments stopped.

“If we lay fraud charges (the media) will know, but we’re still in the middle of investigating them.“

As well as looking for fraudulent claims, Royle said the investigator has “been given a broad mandate” to uncover fraudulent employers who are not paying the proper assessment rates, health care providers who may be billing too much and “(board) staff who have the potential for actions that are dishonest.“

In 2006, the board declared $21.4 million in claims expenses and $17.1 million in 2007.

Despite the drop in claim payouts, reported injuries rose (1,984 in 2006, 2,023 in 2007) as well as accepted claims, which increased from 945 in 2006 to 1,116 in 2007.

While Auditor General Sheila Fraser gave the board’s 2007 financial statement her approval in May of this year, Tuton was more impressed with the board’s 2007 claims expenses.

“I consider a $4-million saving in claims costs to be huge, it’s huge,“ said Tuton of the decline in claims payments, which has not happened for five years.

“But more importantly, it shows, I think, that our partnerships with our stakeholders are working. They’re buying into the fact that the only way to reduce the cost of our system is to reduce the amount of injuries, hence the number of claims, hence the number of dollars that we pay out.“

Overall, the board is fully funded, with total reserves of $24.5 million in addition to $112 million to cover future costs of all current claims.

Other highlights of the board’s 2007 financial statement include an operating deficit of $6.6 million; however, Tuton blamed a poor market place that caused the board’s investment revenue to decline by $18.3 million.

A strong Yukon economy also added $5.9 million to the board’s assessment revenue, which totalled $22.5 million.