Insurance agency loses assurance of state funds

CARSON CITY -- State government is no longer going to automatically hand over $9 million a year in premiums to the Employers Insurance Co. of Nevada to cover medical and rehabilitation expenses for workers injured on the job.

The state Board of Examiners Tuesday approved the hiring of two insurance broker firms to help the state find the best deal at the lowest price when it comes to covering its employees.

Employers Insurance was formerly a state-operated system that had a near monopoly on providing industrial insurance policies. But on Jan. 1 it converted to a private company.

Susan Dunt, director of the state Risk Management Division, said Employers Insurance must compete for the state's business, just like any private insurance company. The present state policy expires next Jan. 1.

The risk management division is hiring Willis of Seattle Inc. and Orgill/Singer & Associates Inc. to evaluate all the options available to the state. Their contracts are for up to $2.5 million, but Dunt doesn't expect that much money to be paid out.

The state also will look at insuring itself.

In other action, the board agreed to an out-of-court settlement for $46,500 for Josh Arquilla, the minor son of Tim Arquilla, 35, who died in the infirmary at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in November 1997.

The father, serving a 1- to 2 1/2-year term for drunken driving from Washoe County, died of pleurisies and peritonitis four months after he arrived at the prison. An inquiry showed a defect in his diaphragm allowed the stomach and bowel to herniate into the left chest area.

The board also agreed to pay $15,000 to Adelso Lopez, who was injured when his car was struck by a vehicle driven by Clifford Conradt of the state Wildlife Division in Reno. Conradt's car ran a red light on Fourth Street and hit the Lopez vehicle. Lopez suffered severe back pain and has lost work as a result of the accident.

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