WCRI: No Meaningful Delays in Work Comp Medical Care Despite Covid-19
Despite potential obstacles posed by the coronavirus pandemic, injured workers experienced no meaningful delays in access to medical treatment under their employers’ workers’ compensation programs during the pandemic.
Research from the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) also shows that states have varied substantially in the percentage of their workers’ compensation claims that have been Covid-19 related.
“We found no change in pattern in the first treatment, and no change in the number of visits,” said economist Olesya Fomenko during WCRI’s recent annual conference in explaining the preliminary findings of her research. Fomenko analyzed data on Covid-19 paid claims from 27 states for the first two quarters of 2020 compared to 2019.
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Expansion of Workers’ Comp for COVID-19 Created Narrow Benefit in 6 States
While at least 17 states have passed laws or issued orders that expanded access to workers’ compensation benefits for employees who contract COVID-19, many of those directives are creating new exposure for only a sliver of the workforce, new research by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute shows.
WCRI studied policies adopted by Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota and Missouri in response to the pandemic.
Researchers found that the broadest expansion of the six states an executive order issued by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear created additional claim exposure for only 4% of the state’s workers, when adjusted to account for the risk of exposure. The orders expanded exposure by more than 3% but less than 4% of workers in each of the other states except for two states – Minnesota, at 2.8% and Missouri, at 0.8%.
Texas Workers’ Compensation System’s Path to Wellness December 16, 2020
Since 2003, insurance rates in the Texas workers’ compensation system have dropped by nearly 72 percent, according to a new study released by a research group within the state’s insurance department.
In 2003, the Texas workers’ compensation system was in dire straits. Medical costs per claim were high, return-to-work rates were dismal, and satisfaction with care was low. Workers’ comp insurance was expensive and hard to find.
Legislation approved that year, as well as in 2001, ushered in some reforms, but House Bill 7, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2005 has had a greater impact, transforming the state’s workers’ comp system from one of the least weakest in the U.S. to one of the healthiest.