Texas Workers’ Comp Commissioner: We’ve Come a Long Way

The Texas workers’ compensation system is not working perfectly, but “it has come a long way,” says the state’s new Commission-er of Workers’ Compensation Rod Bordelon.

In a speech before an audience of workers’ comp professionals, Bordelon praised the work of former Worker’s Compensation Commissioner Albert Betts and Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin in overhauling the system as mandated by the legislature in House Bill 7 in 2005.

“Commissioner Betts did a tremendous job of moving us as an independent agency of workers’ comp to a division of the Depart-ment of Insurance,” Bordelon said during the 2008 Workers’ Compensation Conference sponsored by the Insurance Council of Texas. Betts, he said, worked to streamline the integration process and create a seamless transition between the work of the workers’ comp division and that of the insurance department. He pledged to continue the effort.

Bordelon noted that despite the fact that large employers are increasingly opting out of the system, the market in Texas still represents nearly $3 billion in gross written premium. “The total number of carriers writing policies in 2007 was 230. Total dollars spent on medical benefits was $1.3 billion,” he said.

He said it is important to recognize “there are real people paying for this. … The employers in the system are paying for every dollar of this. We have to be mindful of that. … I want to make sure we take care of those who are subscribing to the system and for those that are not subscribing to try to provide some incentives for them to come back.”

He said rates and losses are trending down. There were a little more than 108,000 claims per injuries reported in 2007, down from 115,000 in 2006 and 116,000 in 2005. The bad news is that the number of work related fatalities in Texas rose to 527 in 2007, up from 486 in 2006, Bordelon said. The incident rate of occupational injury and illness has also risen slightly. In 2006 the rate was 3.7 per 100 full time workers, or about 258,000 cases. In 2005 the incident rate was 3.6.

I Will Listen

Bordelon, who formerly served as executive director of the Office of Public Insurance Counsel, said he asked himself when he accepted the new position, what would he want if he were coming before the commissioner as an advocate. “I thought three things: I want to be heard; I want to be treated fairly, honestly and impartially; and I want, frankly, that the commissioner will rule in my favor. I cannot promise you the last one but I will promise you that I will listen to you,” Bordelon said.