Preliminary survey shows gap between GTA claimants within minor injury guideline (MIG) and non-GTA claimants in MIG

Ontario’s 2010 auto reforms appear to be funnelling injured claimants into the Minor Injury Guideline (MIG), but there is still a divide between those claimants in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and those outside of the GTA, said Lynn Anderson, Aviva Canada’s vice president of health care services.
Anderson offered an insurer’s perspective at The LMH Group’s Before the MIG Hits the Fan seminar in Toronto on Apr. 29.
Anderson said Aviva Canada is one of six companies taking part in a survey conducted by Insurance Bureau of Canada to measure the success of the 2010 auto reforms in controlling the escalating costs of accident benefits in Ontario.
The survey results are still very preliminary, Anderson said, but there were some positive signs.
“The survey is based on the kinds of forms that have been submitted, and we know that the actual forms and what’s on those forms are not necessarily good indicators of what’s going on or what the outcomes will be,” she said.
Of the 508 claimants Aviva is following, 69% of the injuries are within the Minor Injury Guideline (MIG), she said. But 33% of those were put into the MIG through the use of an independent exam, representing an additional cost to the insurer.
There is still a divide in the number of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) claimants landing in the MIG, and those outside of the GTA, she noted.
“Eighty-two per cent of non-GTA claimants began in the MIG,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately though, there is tension pulling the other way. We’re seeing 54% of the claimants on OCF-23s (Pre-Approved Treatment Confirmation Forms), when the target for FSCO was 60%.”
Within the GTA, only 57% of claimants begin treatment in the MIG and 38% of those are on an OCF-23, Anderson said.
“So, with some encouragement and advisement from our advisors we’re managing to get some of those GTA claimants into the MIG”