Now that the Ohio BWC has moved away from using ICD-9 Codes to using ICD-10 Codes for categorizing injuries and illnesses, they will be changing from the MIRA II Reserving System to the new ACES Reserving System. The ACES (Actuarial Claims Estimating System) process will be implemented on 7/1/2020. ACES uses very similar cost drivers (input variables) as MIRA II.
Reserves are a key component in determining what your company’s EMR (Experience Modification Rate) will be for the upcoming policy year. Simply put, Reserves are estimated future costs of a claim. If Reserves are present on a claim when the BWC takes their annual EMR “snapshot” on September 30th, then there is a possibility that your EMR will be higher than anticipated for the upcoming policy year. The BWC’s calculation for how they arrive at a claim’s Reserve is proprietary, but they do look at such variables as claimant’s age, type of injury and expected recovery time.