Workers' Comp MCO Open Enrollment Begins Today
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Beginning at 7:30 a.m. today, Ohio employers have the opportunity to select a new managed care organization to manage health-care services for workers injured on the job. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation offers an open enrollment period every two years to allow employers to evaluate the services of their current MCO and determine if they would like to make a change (CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION).
“A strong MCO-employer partnership is imperative to facilitating the best and most timely treatment that places injured workers on a path to recovery and return to work,” said Steve Buehrer, BWC administrator and CEO, in a prepared statement. “The BWC has strengthened its own collaboration with MCOs, and we encourage employers to give this important decision careful thought in order to assemble the team best suited to meet the needs of their workers injured on the job.”
The BWC has established informal partnerships with a network of 16 MCOs that are the primary link between injured workers, medical providers and employers. MCOs manage claim filing and medical treatment and help employers implement recovery and return-to-work programs.
Employers satisfied with their MCO need not to do anything. Those considering a change can complete the MCO Selection Form online at this website or download and print a blank form, complete it and mail or fax it to BWC. The BWC also produces the MCO Selection Guide and the MCO Report Card to help employers make a more informed decision. The guide, available at the BWC website, provides instructions, and the report card provides MCO performance information intended to help employers make a selection. These measures include quality medical management statistics BWC uses to evaluate the return-to-work services and quality of medical management the MCOs provide to injured workers.
The MCO open enrollment period runs through 5:30 p.m. May 23. New MCOs for employers that make a change will begin managing the medical portion of their claims beginning June 30.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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