Washington Workers’ Comp Insurer Collects $137.3M

Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries has reported its total collections to the state’s workers’ compensation insurer for the past year are at their highest level since 2007, at $137.3 million.

One reason for the increase, L&I said, is its enhancement of a phone collection process that produced a $4 million (16 percent) increase in paid-in-full dollars (payments that brought accounts to current, fully paid status). This reduces the cases turned over to L&I’s local offices for debts owed.

“While collecting debts owed to L&I may seem incidental to fraud prevention, it is a key factor of our success,” wrote Carl Hammersburg, fraud prevention and compliance manager at L&I, in his blog “Nailed.” “Above all, the threat of additional cost deters further non-compliance whether the initial infractions were intentional or not.”