Sedgwick CMS to Administer General Motors Integrated Workers’ Comp, Disability Programs

Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. (Sedgwick CMS) has been selected to provide integrated administration of workers’ compensation and disability claims for General Motors Corporation (GM).

Sedgwick CMS, administrator of workers’ compensation claims for General Motors for the past eight years, will add disability services beginning in 2004 as part of GM’s comprehensive strategy to provide its 190,000 U.S. employees with seamless, single-point access to benefits and other employee programs. GM has selected Fidelity Investments to provide benefit administration services for its health care and pension programs as well as to coordinate and oversee other employee programs including those administered by Sedgwick CMS. Fidelity has provided administration services for GM’s 401(k) and stock plans for several years.

Sedgwick CMS has pioneered in the design and implementation of integrated solutions for the administration of workers’ compensation, disability and other employee absence programs for very large organizations. By coordinating the processing of related benefits and operating from uniform data on the company’s JURIS® claims information system, Sedgwick CMS creates opportunities for employers to improve services to employees while more effectively managing the costs of benefit programs.

“Our vision is to maintain a best-in-class benefits environment for the people of General Motors,” said Jean Rose, GM’s executive director of Employee Benefits and Human Resources Operations. “Sedgwick CMS has the advanced technology, proven processes and operational experience to deliver quality integrated workers’ compensation and disability services on the scale we require. Fidelity is a veteran GM provider with the experience to provide convenient and seamless service for our employees and retirees on all benefit programs.”

“We regard the GM program as a model that can guide other progressive employers in establishing effective, simplified support systems for workers who are coping with major life events,” said David A. North, president and CEO of Sedgwick CMS. “We are extremely gratified that General Motors has entrusted us with this expanded responsibility for the integration of workers’ compensation and disability claims administration. We look forward to improving employee satisfaction, program quality and cost effectiveness through this innovative collaboration with the management of General Motors and the Fidelity-led vendor alliance.”

“We believe this agreement demonstrates the value Fidelity’s workplace services deliver by enabling organizations to focus their energies on product development, production and financial strategies while maintaining leadership in benefit programs,” said Peter J. Smail, president of Fidelity Employer Services Company.

When fully implemented in 2004, the Sedgwick CMS-managed General Motors program will be one of the largest fully integrated private occupational injury claims administration programs in the world, confirming the advantages available to employers and employees through leveraging the parallel professional skills, technology requirements and informational resources of workers’ compensation, disability and medical management practices.