Health Care Reform will change the way employers make business decisions now and into the future. Employers can no longer guess at what mandate will affect their business or what changes need to be made and when. That makes NOW the time to work with a consultant that can provide the analysis necessary to make the best decisions.

John Torinus sure thinks so. He’s the current Chairman and former CEO of Serigraph, a one thousand employee custom graphics manufacturer in West Bend, Wisconsin. In 2004, John began a successful mission to drive down the cost of health care at Serigraph – for his employees and the company – and even wrote a book about it named The Company That Solved Health Care. I’ve become a big fan.

If you run a company or are charged in some way with managing the health insurance plans, this book is for you. Serigraph has kept its costs virtually flat over the last ten years by following several key principles.

If you own, borrow, or rent recreational vehicles, you have a lot of responsibility on your hands. Everyone looks forward to having fun and no one counts on having an accident. Unfortunately, they happen and it’s important to be prepared in case one occurs.

First, have an effective risk management strategy. Protecting your assets, your vehicles, is an obvious place to start. Ensuring this protection starts with maintenance. Implementing a schedule of routine servicing and checks can guarantee the safety of your vehicles and potentially catch an issue before is poses a significant threat.

Workplace injuries are a fact of life in some industries. If you work with heavy machinery or spend your day on your feet, you are unlikely to go your entire career without injuring something. Even sitting at a desk typing all day has it’s hazards. Most business owners are very aware of the risks associated with their day-to-day business.

Something that often gets missed is the return to work plan. When people do get injured, inside or outside of work, they will eventually return. As much as you plan to avoid these injuries it’s also important to create a plan to reintegrate injured employees into your workforce.

Develop a Plan

Only twenty-four states have been approved to set up their own health insurance exchanges leaving the federal government to run the other 26. We don’t know yet what they will look like but we do know there will an overwhelming range of choices for millions of people who have never had to choose their own health insurance before.

Most Americans are covered by employer-sponsored insurance or by government-provided insurance such as Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Only a small percentage buys their own individual private coverage. The Congressional Budget Office projects that 26 million people will buy health insurance on the exchanges by 2022.

An Old List

“If you are walking, you are doing it wrong!” I read the words on a stained dog-eared piece of paper and could still hear Coach Dubach shouting across the practice field.

Ron Dubach was the linebackers coach for the Leo High School football team. There was never a time when it was okay to walk. When you went for a drink of water, you ran. When you moved from one station to another, you ran. When you went to get your injury taped by the trainer, yep, you ran.

The larger the project, the greater the risk – that much is a given. The importance of risk management, however, remains the same no matter how great or small the project. Although each comes with its own unique risks, large-scale infrastructure construction projects are particularly distinctive.

Public Influence

A large infrastructure project is likely to take place in close proximity to the general public and this poses many risks. In some cases, such as road resurfacing or constructing new sections of highway, construction must be staggered to allow for continued public use of the area.

As well as working in close proximity to the public, the risks extend to what happens when you are not working. If your site is in a public area, or easily accessible by public roads, extra security measures may need to be employed to protect the site between shifts. Public liability on large infrastructure construction projects is vitally important.

Last summer, the Supreme Court ruled that states can choose not to expand their Medicaid programs to cover more low-income people.

It Helps To Catch A Break

Ask just about anyone that has had success in life or business how they did it and you’ll probably hear some of the following. It was due to hard work, or innovation and creativity. They diligently prepared and had laser-like focus on a plan. And they were surrounded by great people.

But, it’s been my experience that whatever mix of attributes and planning are mentioned, they always finish with something like this:

The commercial property-casualty marketplace is holding steady thus far in 2013. The market is in a positive, rate increase environment. It evolved to this point throughout 4Q11 and 2012 and in general terms is holding at a 5-7% rate increase in commercial lines. Investment yields continue to decline while catastrophe-related results worsen for insurers, so it is quite likely that rate increases will continue in 2013. Insurers are also facing challenges on certain lines of coverage notably workers’ compensation. Overstated reserves from prior years have been released which tends to temporarily help earnings, and with medical inflation eroding workers’ compensation loss ratios underwriters will focus on pricing integrity and risk selection. Employers with hazardous workers’ compensation exposures and claims experience will see the highest rate increases.

Meanwhile, insurers have the surplus to grow. Rate actions, while positive, are not enough to allow the industry to cover its cost of capital. Thus, underwriters will continue to look at developing market share which will create competition as the economy continues its fight to fully emerge from the recession.