Claims People: Accident Fund, Great American, Envista, Hunton Andrews Kurth and Abicare

AF Group has appointed Nina Burnett as director of investigative services. She will lead claim fraud investigations for an insurance group that specializes in workers’ compensation.

Burnett previously was director of health care investigations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Prior to that, she worked for 10 years as a special agent for the FBI, where she specialized in the investigation of health care fraud.

Burnett obtained a bachelor of arts degree in history from Columbia University and Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University School of Law. She holds several professional designations including Accredited Health Care Fraud Investigator (AHFI) and Certified Professional Coder (CPC).

Accident Fund, based in Lansing, Mich., owns Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America, Accident Fund National Insurance Co., Accident Fund General Insurance Co., United Wisconsin Insurance Co., Third Coast Insurance Co. and CompWest Insurance Co.

Great American Insurance Group has promoted Timothy E. Markey to division vice president within its Fidelty/Crime Division.

Markey joined Great American in 2017 as divisional assistant vice president. He was named head of claims for Fidelity/Crime in early 2000 and is responsible for all aspects of the division’s claim handling, subrogation and litigation management, the Cincinnati-based carrier said in a press release.

Markey has held leadership positions in several fidelity industry professional organizations, including his current post as vice chair of the Fidelity Claims Advisory Committee for the Surety and Fidelity Association of America.

Markey earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall School of Law. He is a member of the New Jersey Bar.

Envista has reassigned five managers to a new line of business that is wholly dedicated to performing major loss investigations following complex, catastrophic incidents and disputes.

Mark Ewing, most recently senior principal consultant and complex loss consultant, was appointed as vice president-specialty practices, the Atlanta-based forensics consulting firm said in a press release.

Scott Nacheman, who joined Envista last June as a principal consultant, was appointed to practice leader-major loss.

Larry Canary, Farhood Nowzartash and Michael Pagano were appointed group directors within the major loss practice, specializing in fire and explosion investigations, civil/structural and mechanical, electrical and plumbing.

The Hunton Andrews Kurth law firm has appointed Lara Degenhart Cassidy as special council in Washington, D.C.

Cassidy has nearly 30 years of experience representing corporate policyholders and individuals in complex coverage disputes, the Hunton firm said in a press release.

Cassidy previously worked for Perkins Coie. The firm said she led the appellate briefing in MBIA Inc. v. Federal Insurance Co., which led to a groundbreaking Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision on directors and officers insurance coverage issues that resulted in full coverage for her financial-services client.

Cassidy is the eighth attorney to join the Hunton firm in the past year.

Cassidy earned her undergraduate degree at Southwestern University and her law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Abicare, a workers’ compensation utilization review services provider, has appointed Aliza Krug as its clinical director.

Krug manages the clinical quality of Abicare’s utilization review processes, including training physician reviewers.

She most recently was a physician assistant in primary care for the Stamps Student Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Before that, she worked in occupational medicine, treating workers’ compensation patients in both urgent care and orthopedic settings and has experience in pulmonology, Abicare said.

Krug is proficient in diagnostics, procedural skills, medical therapies, records review, and monitoring. She is a board-certified physician assistant and holds a master of medical science degree from Mercer University, where she was chair of the Godsey-Matthew’s Society.

Abicare, based in Atlanta, has URAC accreditation in workers’ compensation utilization management and its other services include peer review, clinical bill review, and pharmacy intervention programs.