Titled The Rehabilitation Summit: Thought Leadership in Action, MetLife said the white paper discusses issues such as industry best practice and various ideas that were showcased at the inaugural Life Rehabilitation Summit organised by the two insurers.
MetLife added that the white paper covers mental illness, pain management and the use of data metrics for rehabilitation.
It also showcases the success of the pilot Reactivate coaching program to help claimants suffering from debilitating, long-term illness, a statement from MetLife said.
Chief executive of MetLife Deanne Stewart said rehabilitation programs, and in particular early intervention programs, will play a “vital role” in the future of the insurance industry.
“By bringing together industry thought leaders and sharing new developments we can drive progress in this regard,” she said.
“The industry must take necessary steps towards proactive and preventative measures, and where possible restore our claimants to full health and independence.
“The Life Rehabilitation Summit white paper seeks to spark conversation and debate around the steps required to improve outcomes for our customers and deliver a more sustainable framework to the industry,” Ms Stewart said.
The summit brought together over 40 rehabilitation consultants across the life insurance industry.
@OldRisky, your nickname aside, that seems to me to be a
very old-fashioned view of the place of vocational rehabilitation in disability
claims, perhaps more accurate in mid 90’s workers compensation. With the wealth
of credible research in the last 15 years showing the health benefits of good
work, surely you are not suggesting that it is the best health and life outcome
for your injured IP client to remain at home unemployed on IP benefits until
age 65 rather than working with vocational rehabilitation to explore any
potential to re-engage with the workforce in any capacity possible.
Perhaps your main disagreement is with the incorporation of rehabilitation into TPD claims, which appears to be an effort to ensure the group TPD product is sustainable without further premium rises eating into retirement balances of members or the potential for withdrawal of the offer of group risk cover. As an example, some new TPD definitions allow the retraining that a member may reasonably undertake to be taken into consideration when deciding
whether a member is Totally and Permanently Disabled. This means that members’
premiums reflect that lump sums will be paid to those who are truly facing
being unemployed for the rest of their life rather than a member in their 30s receiving a six figure TPD payout and then is able to immediately (or has already) complete a short retraining TAFE course and embark on a further 30 years of full
employment in a more sedentary occupation. In this way, the inclusion of
rehabilitation in the policy by the insurer is an encouragement for those who
can work in an alternate role to get back into the workforce rather than suffer
the detrimental health effects of long term unemployment. It is not in the
insurer’s interest to delay TPD claims decisions- delay means customer dissatisfaction, additional admin resources, and the threat of legal proceedings.
From my interactions with a range of financial and risk advisers when introducing an offer of supportive vocational rehabilitation, the vast majority of advisers have been welcoming the assistance for their client and impressed that an insurer was proactively investing resources and showing care. I am reassured that your cynical view of rehabilitation and insurers represents an outdated attitude of a minority, perhaps coming from a lack of understanding about the range of services and support that is now included under the definition of ‘vocational rehabilitation’. The Rehabilitation Summit that was the subject of the above article and white paper was a collaboration of
allied health professionals from all life insurers to promote best practices, share
learnings, and discuss our experiences of what works and doesn’t in our growing
industry. The summit included talks on Mental Health Occupational Therapy, improving a member’s psychological resilience and developing a common approach to monitoring rehabilitation provider performance (an area you point out warrants discussion). I would invite you to make contact with a Rehabilitation Manager from any of the Life Insurers in our industry, I am sure they would be happy to respectfully explain the various vocational rehabilitation services on offer
for your retail clients and group members. Hopefully you will see that the customer’s experience and wellbeing is at the heart of rehabilitation initiatives such as vocational coaching, job seeking assistance, retraining or resilience courses that are in most cases funded by the insurer in addition to the monthly benefit, and you will become an advocate for your clients actively participating in such activities
on offer rather than spreading a message of distrust of insurers (on this issue
at least!) and expectation of failure.
Every time I hear the word Rehabilitation from an insurer my BS meter goes to the stop pins in the red zone. It has always been the language of insurers seeking to limit claims on IP & TPD because they have failed to properly price a disability product, primarily because modern advisers sell on price, not quality or service, or an ISN Fund wants to plug “cheap “insurance”. In nearly 30 years I have only seen one case where Rehab got someone back to work on a permanent basis
Offering Rehabilitation ( as distinct from Re-Training), or even COMPELLING Rehabilitation, is in my view a code for slowing up the claim and frustrating the claimant so much they give up, or the disability results in death. And now its creeping into Aust Supers TPD definition, but not, into, so far, the definitions of Cbus, TWU Super, HostPlus or REST etc. And there is no mention as to who pays for the prescribed Rehab
My personal experience with post-operative rehab, and that of my clients, is that you can always find a rehab provider that believes they have the formula, but it will probably take a few courses. I have never met a Rehab provider who did have the guts to say upfront ” we cant fix your problem “. The obvious danger here is that an insurer who has not properly priced their disability contracts tries to funnel Fund Member claimants down the delay road, not the payout road. And insurers keep complaining about lawyers