Let's get to know Melissa Marks, Senior Leave Supervisor at Pepsico. What does a "Leave Supervisor" do for an employer? Shout out to our friend Natalie Torres for introducing us to Melissa.

In this episode, Melissa shares her personal health journey and how it has shaped her empathy for others, particularly as she navigates her role working with employees who experience work injuries.

Here is a link to Melissa's book, titled "Fight Faithfully"

¡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

We are so happy to bring you this episode featuring Dr. Crystal Cobos, Director of the Brain Injury and Concussion Clinic at Institutes of Health and Anne McDonnell, Advocacy and Affiliate Specialist for the Brain Injury Association of
America and former Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Virginia.

In this episode, we discuss the recent development announced in late July by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: CMS now officially recognizes Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) as a chronic condition. According to the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) this is a victory for the brain injury community. CMS has added TBI to its list of chronic conditions for chronic special needs plans (C-SNPs) through its Medicare Advantage program, effective for the January 2025 plan year.

What does this mean for brain-injured employees and the workers' compensation community? Bottom line? We see this as a good thing. Tune in to hear what more these two experts have to say about it.

For more information about Institutes of Health, Brain Injury Services, visit:
https://institutesofhealth.org/

For more information about the Brain Injury Association of America, visit:
https://www.biausa.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

In this episode, you will hear from Jennifer Wolf, President of the Minnesota Workers' Compensation Insurance Association (MWCIA). She talks about what she studied in college, how she found her way into our wonderful industry, and how she loves our workers' compensation ecosystem.

We also learn what a rating does and how it contributes to the overall workers' comp system. According to the MWCIA website: "The primary function of MWCIA as a Data Service Organization (DSO) is to produce an annual Ratemaking Report, which is the basis for all workers' compensation rates in Minnesota. Insurers then apply their unique expenses and loss experience to these base rates to create their own independent rates."

In addition to her duties at MWCIA, Jennifer is also President of Kids' Chance of America.

As you will learn, Jennifer is one of our brightest gems in the WC industry. Smart, funny, and a lover of our industry, she is the real deal.

Grab your earphones, and let's go chat with Jennifer!

MWCIA - https://www.mwcia.org/

Kids Chance of America - https://www.kidschance.org/

National Academy of Social Insurance - https://www.nasi.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