North Dakota Workers’ Comp Director Says Reviews Too Frequent

North Dakota’s workers’ compensation director says outside reviews of his agency are too frequent and expensive.

North Dakota law says the performance reviews of Workforce Safety and Insurance must be done every two years. Auditors concentrate on specific issues and write reports for state legislators to review.

WSI director Bryan Klipfel says it would be better to have reviews every three or four years. He says sometimes the agency barely has time to digest one set of recommendations when it has to start preparing for another.

Klipfel says this year’s review by the Sedgwick Claims Management Services firm was generally positive and confirmed that WSI was managing injury claims correctly. It cost about $230,000, and Klipfel says it took a lot of staff time.