Workers Comp & Safety News – October/November 2023

Is Your In-House Medical Program Causing OSHA Citations?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is devoting more attention to scrutinizing employers’ in-house medical programs for general duty clause violations related to alleged medical mismanagement of injured workers. Read on for details.

NCCI Annual Updates on State Workers Comp Regulations and Legislation

More state legislatures propose PTSD bills; in most states marijuana reimbursement is NOT required and more states are considering legalizing hallucinogens.Read on for details.

Workers Comp Basics: The Four Types of Disability Benefits

In determining the extent of a worker’s injury, doctors evaluate the degree of disability or impairment. The injury may be permanent or temporary.Read on for details.

Workers Comp & Safety News – August/September 2023

The Silent Crisis: Rising Mental Health Problems at Work

An undercurrent of mental health issues is disrupting workplaces across the United States, leading to concerns about productivity, engagement, and retention. Read on for details.
 
 

Is Workers Compensation the Exclusive Remedy in Workplace Sexual Harassment Cases?

Employees who believe they have been victims of sexual harassment on the job or that they work in a hostile or harmful environment have a right to take action by filing a workers’ compensation claim. As such, employers have the responsibility of maintaining a safe, civil work environment with a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment. Read on for details.

How Does Self-Insured Workers Compensation Work?

According to Statista, the percentage of employees covered by self-funded workers compensation plans increased from 44 percent in 1999 to a record high of 67 percent in 2020. Two years later, during the height of the pandemic, that figure had decreased slightly to 65 percent in 2022, but the trend for employers to self-insure is still on the rise.Read on for details.

Two Types of Excess Workers Compensation Insurance

Specific Excess Insurance limits the amount a self-insured must pay for any single occurrence. After the self-insured pays a Self-Insured Retention (SIR), the insurance company will pay the rest of the claims up to a certain limit. See figure 1., illustrating a $750,000 claim where after the self-insured pays the $500,000 SIR, Specific Excess Insurance pays the rest of the claim ($250,000).Read on for details.

Workers Comp & Safety News – June/July 2023

Costliest Work Comp Claims Come from Car Crashes

According to NCCI data, the costliest lost-time workers’ compensation claims by cause of injury result from motor-vehicle crashes, averaging $85,311 per workers’ compensation claim filed in 2019 and 2020. Read on for details.
 

AI and Data Science Join Forces to Enhance Workplace Safety

Artificial intelligence (AI) and data science are having a transformative impact on workplace safety. Read on for details.
 
 
 

Addressing the Growing Problem of Mental Health in the Workplace

According to the NCCI’s 2021 report, mental health claims have been increasing in the US. In 2019, mental health claims accounted for 5.3% of all workers’ compensation claims. This is up from 4.8% in 2018 and 4.6% in 2017.Read on for details.
 

NCCI Update on COVID-19 Court Cases

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, NCCI began monitoring COVID-19-related cases with potential implications for WC insurance. Many of the cases to date have dealt with determinations of whether contraction of COVID-19 is work-related and therefore compensable, or the application of exclusive remedy where employees contract COVID-19 and sue their employers in tort. Read on for details.

Workers Comp & Safety News – April/May 2023

Exclusive Remedy Challenged in Court

According to the annual Court Case Filings updates provided by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), there were several court challenges in 2022 to the constitutionality and scope of exclusive remedy. Read on for details.

What Are the Exceptions to the Exclusive Remedy of Workers Compensation?

Is there a way to cover this risk?

The answer is Yes, and it’s called Employer Liability coverage, as we will explain. Read on for details.
 

Study Identifies Low-Volume/High-Cost Med Opioid Substitutes

In our previous issue we wrote about how the CDC has released revised guidelines that steer patients away from using opioids to manage pain.Read on for details.
 
 

Update on COVID-19 Lawsuits Against Employers

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, NCCI began monitoring COVID-19-related cases with potential implications for workers compensation insurance. Many of the cases to date have dealt with determinations of whether contraction of COVID-19 is work-related and therefore compensable, or the application of exclusive remedy where employees contract COVID-19 and sue their employers in tort. Read on for details.

Workers Comp & Safety News – February/March 2023

Will The PC Industry’s Poor Results Affect Workers Comp Rates?

According to underwriting projections from the Insurance Information Institute, the property casualty 2022 combined ratio is expected to be the worst on record since 2011. Read on for details.
 
 

CDC Urges Switch to Non-Opioid Therapies

In November the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released revised guidelines for opioid prescribing with new recommendations for providers that emphasize greater communication with patients and states that opioids should not be on the front line for managing pain. Read on for details.

Fatal Work Injuries Increased Almost 9 Percent in 2021

There were 5,190 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2021, an 8.9 percent increase from 4,764 in 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The fatal work injury rate was 3.6 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, up from 3.4 per 100,000 FTE in 2020 and up from the 2019 pre-pandemic rate of 3.5 (Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries [CFO]). Read on for details.

Deaths to Law Enforcement Increased Nearly 32 Percent in 2021

These are the key findings by Occupation from the 2021 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Read on for details.

Workers Comp & Safety News – December 2022/January 2023

New Proposed DOL Rule to Tighten Independent Contractor Definition

A new proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Labor could make it more difficult to classify workers as independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read on for details.
 
 

Access to Telemedicine Tightening

Telemedicine saw a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it allowed for social distancing and reduced the risk of infection spread. Read on for details.
 
 

How Insurers Calculate Comp Rates

Workers’ compensation ratemaking may seem complicated, but only two factors affect your workers’ compensation costs: your employees’ job classifications and your experience modification factor. Read on for details.

How Losses Get Spread Out to Make Ex. Mods More Accurate

Not all losses are the same. Small, frequent losses need to be handled or “weighted” differently than one-off severe losses that happen only occasionally.
Read on for details.