With over 200 educational sessions and conferences covering a variety of topics related to workers’ compensation, risk management and loss prevention, the Annual Workers' Compensation Educational Conference (WCI) is truly unmatched in the insurance industry.
“There is no other conference that has the depth and variety of WCI,” says Mark Walls, vice president of communications and strategic analysis at Safety National. “I think it’s a great event for anyone associated with the workers’ comp industry in any way. There are sessions geared strictly towards regulators, judges, attorneys and case managers; there is definitely something for everyone. It is something I’m looking to send more people to next year.”
For Walls, some of the best and most relevant sessions at the conference came under the Centers for Excellence umbrella. Of particular interest to Walls was the session on how the industry can go about marketing itself to the next generation of the workforce. “On the panel there were CEOs from
Sedgwick, Safety National, Broadspire and Institutes talking about the big challenges in attracting and retaining talent within the industry,” Walls says. “The all-star panel gave didn’t just give the attendees ideas around how to recruit the next generation; they also gave tips on how to pass on the knowledge that is getting ready to retire.”
The current workers’ compensation issues in Florida and Oklahoma were both common topics of conversation at the conference. “There were numerous discussions about these continued constitutional challenges to the workers’ compensation statues and the impact that may have on the industry,” Walls says. “The conversations were particularly relevant because the conference is held in Florida, and the state is at the center of these constitutional battles.”
There is widespread concern around the activity that’s been happening in the courts, and Walls noticed particular focus on the Florida Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate several sections of the state workers’ compensation laws. “For several years, carriers had been writing business based on those laws but, because of these court decisions, the NCCI estimates a reserve shortfall of over a $1 billion in workers’ comp,” Walls says. “The courts have effectively retroactively changed the rules but the carriers can’t retroactively collect more premiums. It creates this enormous unfunded liability that the industry has to absorb.”
For more information on the Annual Workers' Compensation Educational Conference, visit
https://www.wci360.com/conference
