The Annual Issues Symposium starts tomorrow, and here’s what’s on tap.
The highlight for fellow work comp geeks is the State of the Line Report, the annual update on results, cost drivers, and trends delivered by top actuary Dennis Mealy, with Friday’s afternoon research workshop a close second.
There are a couple sessions focused on or addressing the role of the federal government in insurance regulation. There’s some internal conflict in the industry over this; historically payers have chafed under the burden of complying with the whims of fifty-one regulators, while state regulators have proclaimed the primacy of their role. With financial regulatory reforms taking effect (Dodd Frank et al), there’s certain to be a lively debate over who’s in charge of what.
The powers-that-be at NCCI will once again have a keynote delivered by a conservative political figure; this year it is Peggy Noonan, who will be speaking on “America’s Ongoing Quest for Patriotic Grace.” What this annual right-wing proselytizing has to do with workers comp is beyond me.
Finally, the guy who wrote Freakonomics is also speaking; Steven Dubner’s insights into why people do what they do will provide a great counter to the “cold hard logic” employed by NCCI’s economists in their research and presentations.
I’ll be live blogging from the conference; see you in Orlando.
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Joe: I am sure Peggy Noonan will provide you with, “A Thousand Points of Light” to show you the “Right” way. She is a good speaker and can be very entertaining!