BWC CEO Personally Delivers Rebate Checks
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The administrator and CEO of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Steve Buehrer, was a busy and popular man Monday as he visited cities throughout the state and handed officeholders sizeable rebate checks.
In the chambers of City Council he presented Mayor Charles P. Sammarone a check for $590,517.60 that the mayor said will be devoted to neighborhood improvement – razing abandoned houses and reclaiming vacant lots.
“We have a big problem with our neighborhoods,” Sammarone remarked, causing a drop in population. “We’re trying to maintain our populations and get people to move back into the city.”
The check Buehrer handed Sammarone will allow the mayor and council to work toward that end, he said.
In his presentation, Buehrer noted that 20 years ago, when the bureau last had a sizeable surplus and mailed rebate checks to business owners, “a significant number were never cashed.”
“I can guarantee you this check will be cashed,” Sammarone declared.
The check presentations are part of the Billion Back program where, as the BWC announced this spring, the agency is returning $1 billion to employees in the public and private sectors.
Some $97 million of the $1 billion is being sent to governments and businesses in Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana, Stark and Portage counties, the BWC says. Mahoning County is receiving $28,269,385, Trumbull County $16,953,663, Columbiana County, $7,971,766, Portage County, $12,735,826, and Stark County $31,750,099.
Public entities -- county, township and muncipal governments, school districts and public libraries – will receive $113 million. Around $887 million will go to 200,000 private employers.
Buehrer explained that employers will be able to identify their rebate check by a rebate-specific insert in the envelope. He also encouraged employers to consider using a portion of their rebate to invest in safety measures that can help prevent future workplace injuries, and further lower workers’ compensation costs.
The $1 billion rebate for eligible employers paying into the State Insurance Fund is part of a three-part plan to bring BWC to within net asset guidelines established by its independent Board of Directors. The plan also includes:
- Changes to BWC’s successful Safety Grant Program, including tripling the amount of money available from $5 million to $15 million to support expanded statewide efforts to promote workplace safety and encourage further investment in protecting Ohio's workers. BWC will also now match every employer dollar with three dollars and has established a policy to allow businesses to get additional awards over their lifetime. These changes are in effect as of today.
- An effort to modernize the premium collection model by moving toward a prospective-payment system. That authority was granted to BWC in the biennial budget signed by Governor Kasich Sunday. BWC is currently undergoing computer upgrades that will allow prospective billing, and will ask its Board of Directors to issue employers $900 million in credits to mitigate transition costs. This switch, which is expected to happen in late 2014, will also result in rate reductions of 2 percent for private employers and 4 percent for public employers.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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