Blunt’s performance as CEO of WSI

In my last post I reported my findings that former North Dakota state fund boss Sandy Blunt’s conviction on charges of authorizing sick leave, failing to get moving expenses repaid, and authorization of payment for small gifts and meeting coffee and danish is nothing short of outrageous.
But perhaps these were sought because the guy is a raving incompetent, and under an employment agreement the state couldn’t fire him unless he was a convicted felon, so they got what they could to kick him out.
Further investigation proves that this couldn’t be the case. Documents from an audit conducted by Marsh in Q1 2008 and other sources indicated the WSI made significant progress under Blunt’s leadership. A few of the findings are below.
– the percentage of claims reported in one day (one day!) increased from 6% before he got there to 45% due to a reporting incentive program he initiated.
– revisions to WSI’s safety programs led to a reduction in severe claims from .81/100 workers to .67.
– claim frequency dropped after Blunt created a financial incentive program for employers – before the program, frequency had averaged a 3% annual increase; after claims dropped 3.7%.
– Under Blunt, the fund’s operating ratio, or administrative expense ratio, was 16.2%, dramatically lower than the average state fund operating ratio of 24.5%. (Conolloy and Associates Report, 3/5/08)
– Paid loss trend was less than half of one percent per year, a remarkable result given medical trend in workers comp.
– WSI’s performance enabled North Dakota’s employers to enjoy the lowest work comp premium rates in the nation – a full 52% below the average state (Oregon Dept of Consumer and Business Services study)
There are lots of workers comp insurers, TPAs, and large self-insured employers that would love to have these kind of results.
Clearly the people who brought down Sandy Blunt did so for reasons other than incompetence. Outside the inevitable complaints from claimants complaining about mistreatment at the hands of their insurance company, the evidence seems to be squarely in Blunt’s favor.
Performance at WSI got better when Blunt was there.
Here’s hoping the new guy – you know, the one who was at least tangentially involved in the ‘investigation’ that resulted in Blunt’s dismissal, the one with zero experience in workers comp, can continue to build on Blunt’s successes.
Because he sure has a tough act to follow.
I don’t know why Blunt was targeted with trumped up charges, and fired despite his obvious strong performance. And I’m not going to try and find out.
The more I learn about this, the more I think I’d have to don a hazmat suit before digging any further, because this just stinks of something rotten in North Dakota.
And that smell is coming from whomever decided for whatever twisted and sick reason that a competent manager needed to be fired and have his life ruined.