2001 Annual Report

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Schedule S - Administrator's Year 1 Annual Report for the Period Ending March 31, 2001

On March 9, 2000, the Courts appointed Crawford Adjusters Canada Incorporated/ Expertises Crawford Canada Incorporée/The Garden City Group Canada to act as the Administrator of the 1986-1990 Hepatitis C Class Action Settlement. Some important Year One milestones include the following:

• Secured office space, furnishings and equipment, computer systems and;
• Recruited, trained staff and developed Human Resources practices and procedures;
• Developed a customized software application known as CLASS;
• Set-up a 1-800 telephone assistance line;
• Developed and implemented internal standard operating procedures;
• Developed and mailed bilingual claim forms and follow-up correspondence;
• Provided on-site personal assistance to Claimants and held Claimant information meetings country-wide;
• Requested monthly compensation disbursements from Trustee for payment to Class Members;
• Reported weekly to the Joint Committee;
• Established contacts with hospitals, clinics, physicians, public trustees where appropriate;
• Organized a Traceback program in partnership with Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec;
• Organized a PCR testing program for Approved Class Members in partnership with Gamma Dynacare laboratories;
• Developed and installed a loss of income calculator software package;
• Re-launched the www.hepc8690.ca web site.

Operational Highlights

Total approved payments have increased to $97,878,203 as of May 31, 2001. Not all of the claims received in Year One could be fully evaluated by year-end due to submissions that were deficient or incomplete. Incomplete submissions meant that additional proof; results or documentation was needed to make a final decision but such documentation was not received before year-end.

In accordance with Court Orders, the Initial Claim Forms were mailed on April 25, 2000. Completed Initial Claim Forms were first received from Claimants in early May 2000. Payments to Claimants commenced in June 2000.

The Center opened in April 2000, with a staff of eight fulfilling the mandate of the Administrator. Staffing within the Claims Center increased throughout the year as the volume of work increased. At year-end, the Claims Center operated with a total of twenty-seven full-time and part-time staff. During the year, various key functions were assigned to employees. For example, a team of Customer Service Representatives was formed, a Traceback Coordinator was hired, and Claims Evaluators were responsible for evaluating specific supplementary payments such as compensation for HCV drug therapy; loss of income/support/services in the home; costs of care and Approved Family Members. This specialization allowed the staff in the Center to work more efficiently and provide a higher level of service to class members.

To streamline the processing and evaluation of claims, a custom software application called CLASS has been developed. The complexity of the Settlement Agreement and associated procedures necessitated major software development beyond the core application. Every HCV Infected Person who is registered with the Claims Center has a file. Family Members and Dependants of a deceased HCV Infected Person have associated files. All documents received by the Claims Center are scanned into the database within 48 hours. Documents are subsequently filed and stored at a secure off-site location. The Claims Center processes claims in a paperless environment using the scanned images.

Customer service is important to the Claims Center. At the outset, call volumes were difficult to predict so service results were monitored closely. In the fall of 2000, the service results for the 1-800 telephone assist call center fell below acceptable standards. Corrective action was taken including a telephone software and hardware system upgrade. Since corrective measures were put into place, the service results have improved and are meeting acceptable standards.

Year Two Outlook

While Year One was focused on ramping-up this complex administration, it is expected that Year Two issues will revolve around refining processes and procedures coupled with meeting and exceeding the needs and expectations of Claimants. We expect that claims processing resources will significantly increase in Year Two and then decline in subsequent years.

Crawford & Company

Garden City Canada (GCG) is an operating division of Crawford Adjusters Canada Inc. (CACI). CACI is the largest claims administration company in Canada. Services provided include claims and risk management, loss adjustment, healthcare management, class action administration and risk information services.