Texas Establishes Performance Incentives for Workers’ Comp Carriers, Providers

The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation now has in place a rule establishing incentives for performance-based oversight for workers’ comp carriers and health care providers.

The department reported that under the rule signed Dec. 28, 2007, by Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation Albert Betts, the division will offer incentives to the insurance carriers and health care providers who were assessed for overall compliance and placed into a regulatory tier in August 2007. These incentives include limited audit exemption, public recognition and modified penalties depending on the tier placement of the insurance carrier or health care provider.

The workers’ comp commissioner is required by statute to adopt requirements that provide incentives for overall compliance in the Texas workers’ compensation system and that emphasize performance-based oversight linked to key regulatory outcomes.

“These rules provide incentives for insurance carriers and health care providers to continually work on improving their overall compliance in the workers’ compensation system,” Betts said.

Key provisions of the Performance-Based Oversight Incentive rule include:

• Key regulatory goals that outcomes will be measured against;
• Three regulatory tiers used by TDI-DWC; and
• Incentives offered for high, average and poor performers.

The rule is posted on the agency Web site at: www.tdi.state.tx.us/wc/rules/adopted/adopted.html.

Additional information on performance-based oversight is available online at: www.tdi.state.tx.us/wc/pbo/pbo.html.

Topics Carriers Texas Legislation Workers' Compensation