Mastering the MSP Maze & The New Rules of Settlement: Cutting-Edge Compliance Strategies

As Medicare Set-Asides (MSAs) continue to evolve, a clear understanding of today’s requirements is essential for effective settlements. This session clarifies when submission to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is recommended, how MSAs affect timing and cost, and what practical alternatives exist to resolve claims without adverse impact. The takeaway: straightforward guidance to choose the right approach and support defensible, efficient resolutions.

The Blueprint for Handling Catastrophic Claims

Catastrophic work injuries occur daily across organizations of every scale and industry, making virtually all employers vulnerable to these life-changing events. The resulting claims are complicated and individualistic, requiring exacting standards of coordination and communication. This session—led by three seasoned workers’ compensation experts with more than 100 years of combined experience—explains what to consider when preparing for these highly convoluted

When Claims Overlap: ERISA and Non-ERISA Long-Term Disability Claims and Workers’ Compensation Issues

When long-term disability claims intersect with workers’ compensation, complex legal and administrative challenges can arise. This session explores key differences between Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and non-ERISA disability plans, coordination of benefits, and strategies for navigating overlapping claims while minimizing disputes and ensuring compliant claims management.

Legislative & Political Update

The frequency of cumulative trauma claims continues to climb statewide, driving up costs and impacting many of you each day, but does the legislature understand what’s at stake? With more than a decade since employers and labor negotiated comprehensive reform of California’s workers’ compensation system, timing is right for action. What appetite is there to take bold steps toward progress during the governor’s remaining year in office? Join us for this can’t-miss opening session to hear the latest from our advocacy experts on the battles and opportunities that still lie ahead in the last few weeks of the legislative year in Sacramento and find out how you can stay engaged.

Best Practices: Californians Can Learn From Other States to Find Solutions For Cost Containment, AI Adaptation and More

California often sets the pace for policy and innovation—but it can also benefit from solutions implemented elsewhere. With 56 jurisdictions across the U.S., many have adopted practices worth examining. This fast-paced presentation explores best practices from throughout the country, addressing topics that include claims resolution, cost containment, real-world use of AI, and evolving regulatory approaches. While this session’s perspectives may challenge conventional thinking, the focus remains on driving meaningful improvements for the two primary stakeholders: employees and their employers.

Connected Care: Leveraging Technology to Create a More Empathetic Disability Management System

As demand for data-driven decision making grows, integrated disability management programs must evolve—bringing together technology, analytics, and human-centered design. This session explores how employers can streamline workers’ compensation claims and absence management using AI-powered tools that reduce administrative burdens while improving employee support. Strategies to connect systems, leverage insights, and foster a culture of care are also addressed. Designed for both new and existing programs, this session offers practical guidance for aligning technology with emerging needs while delivering compassionate outcomes.

How to Avoid Provider Mistakes That Sabotage Return-to-Work Success

The return-to-work process requires collaboration among multiple stakeholders, with physicians and healthcare providers leading the charge. This presentation explores how providers can integrate stay-at-work and return-to-work strategies into treatment plans, while communicating clearly with employers about functional abilities. The goal: align medical recovery with workplace needs. It also addresses common mistakes that can derail progress, offering practical solutions that lead to stronger physician partnerships, shorter claim durations, and better cost control.

The Future of the Feed: Seeing into the Future of California Workers' Compensation with the "Bloggers"

The team is back to ponder the world of workers' compensation, debate the needs and opportunities, and provide yet another round of entertaining banter.

Managing Change Culture and Success During Transformation

Workers’ compensation and risk-management organizations are facing unprecedented transformation driven by workforce shifts, technology, regulatory pressures, and rising service expectations. This session explores how leaders can facilitate change while maintaining trust, performance, and continuity. It highlights practical strategies for effective communication and team support, offering strategies for reskilling claims, safety, and risk professionals. The focus is on leading change initiatives that strengthen organizational resilience, improve outcomes, and position workers’ compensation and risk programs for long-term success.

Smarter Safeguards: Using AI to Detect and Prevent Provider Fraud

Healthcare fraud and abuse are growing more complex, but artificial intelligence offers powerful tools to detect suspicious billing patterns and identify high-risk providers. In addition to exploring the difference between fraud and abuse, this session discusses how AI and analytics can help organizations strengthen fraud prevention, support investigators, and protect workers’ compensation programs from ever-evolving provider fraud schemes.

Strategic Use of Structured Settlements

Golden Dreams, Iron Realities: A Data-Driven Roadmap Through California’s Systemic Challenges

California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) leverages extensive claims data to provide research, practical analysis, and advocacy on issues affecting the California workers’ compensation system. CWCI’s President Gideon Baum and EVP/General Counsel Sara Widener-Brightwell take a deep dive into the forces moving the needle today. From the historical roots of CT claims to a modern analysis of cumulative trauma, litigation trends, and related indemnity claims, the team shares the reasons behind the numbers. They also offer expert observations and strategic insights designed to steer legislation and ensure a sustainable, healthy workers' compensation system for years to come.

Bulls and Bears: A Chicago Case Study on Resilience as Applied to California Claims

Workers’ compensation systems, like financial markets, experience both bull and bear phases, requiring resilience among stakeholders. Drawing on a Chicago Bears 2025 season case study, a distinguished panel of insurance market experts, a veteran psychologist, and a legal specialist in workers’ compensation defense provide a current market forecast and discuss psychological strategies for building personal and organizational resilience that translate to the successful defense of claims.

Countering the New Playbook: A Collaborative Deep Dive into CAAA 2026’s Emerging Trauma Trends

Applicant attorneys (AAs) are continually refining their tactics, developing new strategies that can shift the defense landscape. This session explores the key takeaways from the California Applicants’ Attorney Association 2025 conference, offering a clear picture of how AAs position their cases, where they see opportunities, and what challenges they anticipate. From evolving theories to renewed focus on procedural maneuvers, the discussion highlights how defense attorneys and claims professionals can stay agile and adapt. It also offers an updated toolkit to help anticipate AA strategies and build a stronger, more effective defense.

Mega Claims and Cumulative Trauma in California: Early Warning Signs That Can Protect Your Loss Ratio

A small percentage of workers’ compensation claims account for a disproportionate share of system costs, with high-exposure mega claims making a devastating impact. This session reviews key findings from a 2024 study that identified common characteristics of catastrophic claims, translating those insights into practical strategies to help spot the early-warning signs of a potential mega claim. The session also examines cumulative trauma claims in California—particularly those filed shortly after hire, before termination, or after employment ends—and shows how they can create unexpected exposure and litigation challenges if not identified and investigated early.

Public Entity Presumptions and Penalties

Public entity presumptions—such as cancer, cardiac problems, and mental health issues—are the primary drivers of claim costs for first responders. This session goes beyond the statute to provide a practical guide for claims examiners and risk managers. The panel will analyze the shifting burden of proof, examine critical medical evidence needed to rebut presumptions, and outline strategies for timely investigation. The core insights: actionable strategies for handling presumptive claims—from injury report to final resolution—and a strong understanding of compliance with the latest legislative changes, including SB 1127’s penalties provisions.

Respecting the Roots: Cultivating a Safety Mindset While Understanding Cultural Diversity

Safety and health professionals have been taught to address the root of an individual’s injuries, but not the relevant culture. Investigations identify issues and implement solutions, but no attention is paid to underlying social factors that can lead to serious and repeat injuries. This presentation uses real-world, high-profile incidents to look more closely at root-cause investigations from a cultural point of view, and also provides a simple tool to aid in investigations.

The Trauma Trifecta: Defending TBI, PTSD, and CT Claims in an Evolving Legal Landscape

The combination of physical brain injury and psychological trauma is as medically complex as it is legally challenging. As cumulative trauma (CT) filings continue to rise, practitioners must navigate the overlapping symptoms and legal presumptions that define traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and CT claims. This session provides a roadmap to identify, treat, and defend these intertwined claims, and explores the biological correlation between brain impact and psychiatric onset.

The Golden Hour & Beyond: Mastering the Intersection of Team Member Illness, Injuries, RTW Accommodations, and Legal Compliance.

When a workplace accidents occurs, a high-stakes "clock" begins to tick, triggering a complex web of medical, legal, and administrative requirements. This session moves beyond theory to provide a tactical roadmap for navigating these hurdles. Using real-world case studies and data from industry leaders like American Airlines and FedEx, our panel of experts will reveal how to synchronize advocacy-based care with rigid regulatory demands.