Deconstructing Comp

LIVE: 2025 FL Bar and WCCP WC Forum

Send us a textRecently, Yvonne and Rafael attended the 2025 Florida Bar and WCCP Workers' Compensation Forum, April 9-11, in Orlando, Florida. Unfortunately, there was no wi-fi available to do live streaming, which is what we planned to do, but we did talk to several folks and conducted short interviews to capture their excitement and thoughts about the conference. Conference interviews include: Judge David Langham, Florida Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation ClaimsStacy Hossman, Executive Director of WCCPOneill Martinez, FL MediatorYvonne and Rafael take time to catch upHolly Akers, Claimant Attorney - Jacksonville, FLYa'Sheaka Williams, Defense Attorney - Tampa, FLAdam Levy, Defense Attorney - Tampa, FLWe hope you enjoy this "bonus" episode of on-the-spot interviews at one of our top Florida conferences. The conference takes place again in 2026 at the same location at the Omni® ChampionsGate Resort in Orlando, FL, and you can check here for information about that and other events by WCCP: https://www.wccp.org/¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

Stuart Colburn: Deep in the Heart of Texas Comp

Send us a textAfter much anticipation since we started this podcast, Stuart Colburn joins us for a special episode focused on Texas! Stuart, a shareholder at Downs & Stanford, P.C., has over 25 years of experience in workers' compensation. He shares his journey into our industry and expertly navigates the evolution of the Texas Workers' Compensation system since the 1980s. Throughout the conversation, he highlights the unique aspects that make Texas' approach distinctly different from those of other states.Stuart is board certified in Workers' Compensation Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and was the founder and first Chair of the State Bar of Texas Workers' Compensation Section. He co-authors the Texas Workers' Compensation Handbook published by LexisNexis and, as a certified lobbyist and frequent Division of Workers' Compensation conference representative, brings valuable policy perspective to the conversation.(Correction: Stuart mentions 2011 as the year Wikipedia and iTunes emerged; however, the correct year is 2001.)NOTE: Stuart shares a slide deck during this episode, which you can see in the video version on our YouTube channel. Resources mentioned in this episode:Texas Workers' Compensation Handbook 2025 EditionTexas Department of Insurance - Workers' Compensation Texas Subsequent Injury FundAmerican Medical Association (AMA) GuidesOfficial Disability Guidelines ODG by MCG National Comp ConferenceStuart Colburn bio¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

Jennifer Wolf: Alphabet Soup

Send us a textWe like to have fun with our episode titles when we can, hence "Alphabet Soup." Still, despite the fun name, this is an informative episode, particularly for those newer to the workers' compensation industry. Our guest is Jennifer Wolf, president and CEO of MWCIA in Minneapolis, MN. Jennifer expertly navigates through many of the common terms and acronyms we use. This is certainly not meant to be an exhaustive list of terms, so we have included several links for a more complete list for the nerdy folks like us: California Department of Industrial Relations GlossaryTennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Glossary of AcronymsFlorida Senate 440 Statutes Workers' Compensation DefinitionsPie Insurance Workers' Comp 101 GlossaryTexas Department of Insurance Workers' Comp Insurance GlossaryWe hope you enjoy it. If we missed a term or acronym you think should have been included, let us know! We may need to do a "Part 2" on terms and vocabulary! ¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

A COMPlicated Framework with Joe Paduda

Send us a textJoe Paduda joins us to explain the basic framework of our workers' compensation system. In this episode, we discuss why our system is so complicated and some of the key features of several states. While Yvonne tries to keep the conversation focused on basics, Ralph and Joe wander on a few tangents, such as discussing the potential of a federalized workers' compensation system. Joe explains why that is not likely to happen and they explore Medicare and Medicaid components.Whether you are new to workers' comp or are a seasoned industry professional, this is a fun conversation that reviews some basic elements of our system and we introduce a few core concepts and terms such as frequency, severity, medical, indemnity, and administrative expense. Joe tells us what he likes about workers' compensation and it is a key element of why we have such good people in the system and why they work hard to make it better every day. You'll have to find us on YouTube and watch the video of this episode to see the cameo appearance of Joe's dog Oakley!Check out Joe's blog on Substack here: https://joepaduda.substack.com/You can find more information Joe has shared over the years at his original website Health Strategy Associates:https://healthstrategyassoc.com/¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

History of Workers Comp with Alex Swedlow

Send us a textJoin us as we kick off Season 5 with Alex Swedlow, President of CWCI and the "History of Workers' Compensation." Alex Swedlow is the President of the California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI). Alex is a previous guest on our podcast and we are so happy to welcome him back with his version of a brief "History of Workers' Compensation." As you will see, he is also a Workers' Compensation "nerd", just like Yvonne and Rafael, and he loves to talk about the history of our system which can be traced back over 4,000 years! Whether you are "tenured" in Workers' Compensation and insurance like the three of us are, or are new to the industry, we encourage you to listen for a quick summary of our endlessly fascinating system and its roots. Check out our new YouTube channel - @DeconstructingComp where we will drop our episodes in video format. For more information about CWCI, please visit https://www.cwci.org/¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp