Gary Cannon resumed his duties and responsibilities as Executive Director of the SCWCC on January 18, 2021. Sandee Sprang, who was appointed Interim Executive Director by the Commission on October 12, 2020, to serve during Gary Cannon’s convalescence, resumed her duties and responsibilities as Director of Information Technology.
Breanne Jolly has been selected as the Director of Coverage & Compliance. The Coverage Division assists in the claims process by providing proper identification of employers’ workers’ compensation insurance coverage. The division maintains a historical record of insurance coverage and uses it to confirm the responsible insurance carrier in the event of a work-related accident or injury. You may verify coverage information through the SCWCC on-line coverage verification service. This service does not provide coverage information on employers who are covered through the State Accident Fund. The Compliance Division is the investigation and enforcement arm of the SCWCC. When a claim is filed for which there is no apparent insurance coverage, the case is assigned to an investigator to determine who should be the responsible party. The Division prosecutes employers who fail to maintain workers’ compensation insurance coverage.
During December 2020, the IT Department completed the migration of all EDI trading partner accounts to a new server with enhanced security. The IT Department continues its working engagement with Microsoft as part of the gap analysis of the KERMIT project. Microsoft expects it will take several more weeks to complete its gap analysis.
During the month of December 2020, the Judicial Department processed 732 requests for hearings, 96 motions, and 156 clincher conference requests. There were 62 Single Commissioner hearings conducted and one Full Commission hearing held. Thirty-two Decision & Orders were served at the Single Commissioner level as a result of completed hearings. One Hundred Ninety informal conferences were conducted. The Judicial Department was notified of 64 matters resolved in mediation and received one notice of intent to appeal to the Court of Appeals.
As of December 31, 2020, there have been 2,259 COVID-related claims filed with the Commission. One Hundred Forty-Four were filed during the month of December 2020. Twenty total fatalities have been reported. Of the closed cases, $183,000.00 has been paid for medical care and $1.1 million has been paid for non-medical care.