Sedgwick Institute releases book on future of comp

Sedgwick Institute, the research arm of Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc., has released a book covering the future of workers compensation, the Memphis, Tennessee-based third-party administrator announced Wednesday.

In “Scenarios for the 2030s: Threats and Opportunities for Workers’ Compensation Systems,” senior institute fellow Richard A. Victor, a 30-year industry veteran, zeroes in on the challenges facing U.S. employers, injured workers, lawmakers and practitioners of occupational medicine, Sedgwick said in a statement.

One of the “central concerns” in the book revolves “around the notion that workers’ compensation costs could triple from 2016, with no real change in benefits to injured workers,” with Mr. Victor observing “that both employers and worker advocates agree that the systems could be seriously out of balance, despite multiple attempts at workers’ compensation legislative and regulatory reforms,” according to the statement.

The book’s objective is “to help employers, insurance providers, insurance regulators, adjudicators, workers’ compensation administrators, worker advocates and healthcare providers navigate the threats and consider opportunities and solutions that could mitigate negative trends and lay the foundation for a more sound system in the future,” according to the statement.