All employers must provide workers’ compensation coverage for their employees to pay for the costs associated with workplace injuries and illness. Expenses for physicians, hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation and medicine must be covered entirely. Employees who are unable to readily return to work after an injury are eligible for compensation during their time off.

Employers have two primary methods of discharging this responsibility. The first is to purchase traditional insurance and the second is to self-insure. Most employers purchase insurance. This is largely because they are too small to meet the State’s security requirements for self-insurance. These same employers that purchase traditional insurance look to simply transfer the “risk” of their workers’ compensation to that insurance company. Historically, only larger employers have been able to take advantage of the cost savings and customized services associated with self-insurance. These same larger companies have been able to enjoy the benefits of applying risk management best practices to contain cost over the long haul. But now, there is way for smaller employers to reduce their costs: participation in one of our self-insured programs.

Since 1996, hundreds of Oregon employers have used their trade associations as a stepping-stone to join programs administered by Empire Pacific Risk Management. Each have benefited from the program’s outstanding service and net-cost approach to the management of risk inherent in workers’ compensation.

Here is a summary of some of the major benefits these employers have come to expect from program participation:

• Lower ultimate cost-of-risk
• Increased control over the process
• Employer-based governance
• Nonprofit pricing policies
• Hands-on loss prevention services
• Employer-sensitive claims service

To learn more about how Empire Pacific manages the risk inherent with your industry and can lower the cost of your workers’ compensation program, please contact us.