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In an overview of his first six months on the job, Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Administrator/CEO Stephen Buehrer said he has identified three primary areas improvement: reducing medical and indemnity costs that are outpacing national averages; reducing recent increases in the time it takes workers to return to work; and reducing the total length of time spent paying claims, in which Ohio ranks worst in the nation.

To address the root cause of these issues, Buehrer has established five workgroups on Triaging Claims, Medical Management, Drug Utilization, Vocational Rehabilitation and Settlements.

In addition to identifying areas for improvement, Buehrer listed several other accomplishments:

• Saving Ohio employers $65 Million in premiums by reducing average base rates for private employers by 4 percent;
• Saving an additional $80 million by reducing the BWC budget by 12 percent over the last biennium;
• Expanding the safety council rebate program, allowing group-rated employers to receive a 2 percent discount for demonstrating improvements to employee safety;
• Establishing a one-time forgiveness program that waives penalties and interests for first-time offenders of lapsed premium; and
• Emphasizing fraud detection, prevention and prosecution, among businesses, providers and injured workers, and securing 43 indictments and 42 convictions over the last six months.

While pleased with the progress made so far, Buehrer acknowledged that the next six months will provide more opportunities to improve the workers’ comp system. Muc

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One of Idaho’s top insurance industry regulators is jumping to private industry, where he’ll be the top lobbyist for Regence BlueShield of Idaho.

The deputy director of the Idaho Department of Insurance, Shad Priest, joins the big insurer Aug. 15

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Phoenix-based MiniCo Insurance Agency LLC announced that it has signed an agreement with Aspen American Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd., to be an additional carrier for MiniCo’s specialty insurance programs for the self-storage industry. Aspen American Insurance Co. began underwriting coverage July 1, 2011, in several states with plans to roll out additional states throughout the remainder of 2011.

Jim Henry, chief underwriting officer, said, “MiniCo continues to support the independent agency network and looks forward to helping agencies grow their self storage book of business with both of our carrier partners. We

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Los Angeles-based Mercury General Corp. reported that on August 1, it will release results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2011. The company will host an investor conference call and webcast that same day at 10 a.m. PST  to review the results of operations for the second quarter period.

All interested investors will be able to access the conference call at 877-807-1888 or 706-679-3827 , or the Webcast at www.mercuryinsurance.com. A replay of the call will be available beginning at 1:30 p.m. PST and running through Aug. 8, 2011. The replay telephone numbers are 800-642-1687or 800-642-1687 . The conference ID# is 82371102.

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Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corp., has released the latest edition of its Monthly Cat Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide during June.

Published by Impact Forecasting, the firm’s catastrophe model development center of excellence, the report notes that “heavy flooding in China during the month directly impacted at least 37 million people, displacing around 1.6 million residents and submerging nearly one million hectares [247 million acres] of farmland, according to the country’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.

“The deluge impacted 13 central and southern provinces including the Yangtze River Basin, killing at least 199 people with dozens more remaining missing. More th

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