Five quick questions for Pat Baker

1 What is the purpose of Missouri Employers Mutual, and what area does the Independence office serve?
MEM is the largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance in the state of Missouri. We are the western region; we serve the upper northwest quadrant of Missouri and the area from the top of the state north of Columbia straight through, including Kansas City. Columbia is our headquarters, speaking from a claims’ perspective. Being a mutual company, we are owned by our policyholders. 
 
2 Why did Missouri Employers Mutual recently tear down its Independence office and build a brand-new building in the same spot? (A brand-new MEM office opened on May 1 at 14700 E. 42nd St., which is visible from Interstate 70.)
MEM has four offices throughout the state, with our headquarters being in Columbia. Our other offices had this basic design and look to them. This Independence office has been the last to be refurbished. It was an older building that needed a new remodel, and this is more in keeping with the general MEM offices so that we are consistent in our appearance.

3 How do Missouri Employers Mutual employees stay up-to-date on any changes related to workers’ compensation?
We have training continually throughout the year. Our adjusters go to seminars. Our corporate (office) provides internal training. There’s different issues that come up throughout the year. There’s the annual changes that come every July, but there’s Medicare changes that we always have to stay abreast of. In keeping up with best practices, we have continual training throughout the year. (Baker is speaking specifically to the claim section of MEM.)

4 How does Missouri Employers Mutual work to provide safety in the work place?
We do have a large loss prevention department where we have loss prevention consultants that will go out to policyholders’ sites. They work with them to address any safety issues to help them develop safety programs for their companies so that it’s a win-win solution for their company and ours to provide safe working environments for all Missouri employees.

5 What resources did people have prior to Missouri Employer Mutual’s 1995 inception, and how has MEM evolved since its creation?
Before MEM was created, probably the last resort for employers was the pool. MEM was created through legislation with the goal to provide an avenue for employers to have another option; it would look all employers to determine if we could assist before they would go into the pool. Since inception, we’ve been the largest writer of workers’ compensation. We’ve got a 14.8 percent market share, and we’ve got over 13,000 policyholders throughout the state. One of the main advantages that we provide is that we specialize in just Missouri, and yet we also have the financial stability of a large national carrier.