A 2009 California Workers’ Compensation Institute study has found: Claims with Medicare involvement are approximately 20% more costly than those without. 6.5% of all permanent disability claims involved Medicare-eligible claimants.
Workers' Compensation cost containment reforms that were implemented in California in 2004 and 2007 helped positively impact Pharmacy related costs by closing the loop on repackaged medications. However, Pharmacy costs have continued to run away largely due to increased utilization.
Insurance fraud occurs every day in every city and state. If insurance fraud was a legitimate business, it would be a Fortune 500 Company. According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, insurance fraud costs Americans at least $80 billion a year, or nearly $950 for each family. In California alone the cost of insurance fraud has reached a staggering $15 billion per year.
For the second year in a row, and the fourth time since 2005, Athens Administrators has been named one of the top 125 Best Places to Work in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times, Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and the East Bay Business Times. Athens Administrators was categorized as a mid-sized business, defined as a company that has between 100 and 500 employees.
Over the past decade SAS 70 Certification has become an increasingly common standard for service related businesses. At Athens we have seen SAS 70 Certification evolve from casual inquiries by clients to becoming a mandatory minimum requirement for many entities today.
The workers’ compensation community had its share of challenges in 2009, but did have some bright spots. Through the third quarter, a number of employers had experienced a decline in indemnity claim frequency.
New Year Resolutions for a Risk Manager. Athens Administrators can help you achieve your goals. We specialize in providing customized risk management solutions that deliver exceptional results.
Paper claim files can be a challenge for claim administrators. They contain critical and impossible to replace documents such as awards from the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, correspondence with the injured worker, employer, attorneys and doctors. Files also contain copies of medical bills and action plans.
Our overall growth strategy and the desire to best serve the Southern California Risk Management community were the critical factors in the decision to open our new full service claims administration facility. We will be located on Michelson Drive in Irvine, CA and will be open for business in September 2009.
June, 2009 – Athens Administrators warmly welcomes third party claim administration industry veteran Michael Landa as the Director of Sales for the Southern California region. Michael’s eighteen years of experience reflects extensive knowledge at all levels of claims administration, including claims examining, supervision, branch management and most recently, as Vice President of Claims Operations for a national third party administrator.
