Associated Press reports Jeff Buker has been appointed to the position.The following information was featured in the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Labor News:
Rod Chapel, director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations today announced the appointment of Jeff Buker to serve as the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation.
"Jeff has been a tremendous asset to the Division of Workers’ Compensation," said Chapel. "He has a depth of knowledge and understanding of the workers' compensation system and I look forward to working with him in this position."
Buker holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master's in business administration from Lincoln University. He has worked on various division projects over the past year and a half involving self insurance and the second injury fund.
"I'm looking forward to addressing the challenges that face the Division of Workers’ Compensation and the second injury fund,” said Jeff Buker. "I've been working closely with PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP to fulfill Governor Blunt’s request for an actuarial study of the second injury fund. PricewaterhouseCoopers is researching the boost in expenditures, including cases that receive immediate payouts and how that has contributed to the increase from $18 to $63 million in total benefits paid since 1994."
Governor Blunt requested an actuarial study be completed after his disappointment in the scope and lack of recommendations with the Missouri State Auditor's report. Governor Blunt specifically requested solid facts and numbers to show the dramatic growth in expenditures, the affect of the Schoemehl case and administration costs. PricewaterhouseCoopers final report will be available next week.
None of the articles seem to be mentioning Buker's previous position as Missouri GOP chief of operations.
2 comments:
Would anyone know why the Governor asked for Pat's resignation? Was she doing too good a job? Making room for some political croony or what? Very confusing for those of us who work in the field of WC.
Several months ago I was in a workshop for managers in Mo. Several horror stories were told of actual recent cases involving their businesses and Mo Worker's Compensation. It should not be a political football. Steve Hunter has become such a crony with special interests, I am not sad he is bypassed. When he was first running, he was very opposed to even taking any funds from them.
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