Overexertion, slips and falls, and being struck by an object were the top three drivers of severe workers compensation claims between 2017 and 2021, according to a 2024 Injury Impact Report released Monday by Travelers Cos. Inc. Motor vehicle accidents and injuries stemming from caught-in or caught-between hazards were numbers four and five, respectively. The report says that employees in…
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a construction worker injured by a crane company employee may not have been subject to workers compensation exclusive remedy because of lingering questions over employment relationship. Jason Beckner was injured while helping to construct a home in Zionsville, Indiana, in November 2019 while employed by Commercial Air Inc. His employer…
The proportion of work-related injuries among newly hired workers increased from 2017 to 2022, with workers under 25 reporting more frequent injuries than those 55 and older, according to a report released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The report, which analyzed 8.4 million non-COVID-19 claims across 31 states, found that work injuries among workers with shorter tenure increased…
Physician charges per procedure performed increased by 11% in workers compensation claims from 2020 through 2022, outpacing the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Consumer Price Index of 7% during that time, according to a pricing report released Wednesday by Enlyte LLC. Enlyte showed a more modest increase of 2% from 2022 to 2023 for medical services. From 2023 to year-to-date,…
Injuries caused by lifting heavy loads were once again named the costliest in workers compensation, according to data released Tuesday by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. The insurer’s Workplace Safety Index estimates the top 10 causes of the most serious workplace injuries — those causing an employee to miss more than five days of work — and ranks them by their…
Aging worker claims often are more susceptible to litigation, as issues of causation and claim expansion come into question. Older worker claims may be slightly more challenging to handle once in litigation because of issues such as Medicare Set-Asides and a potentially higher percentage of disability paid, according to John Geaney, co-chair of the workers compensation practice at Mt. Laurel,…
Workers compensation prices rose more quickly in states that update their fee schedules based on measures of price changes in the general economy rather than price changes in the medical sector, according to a study released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The report noted Alabama, Delaware, Illinois and Oregon as states that adjust workers comp medical fee schedules…
Disclosure of third-party litigation funding, which is routinely blamed for skyrocketing litigation defense costs and increased verdicts, could make the judicial system more efficient, advocates of disclosure regulations say. Knowing that a lawsuit is funded could potentially streamline settlement negotiations because both the company’s insurer and the litigation financier will have better assessed the value of the claim, they say….
Employers, insurers and claimants should start planning for changes to how Medicare’s liabilities are accounted for in workers compensation settlements, experts say. The changes, which will remove the reporting threshold in settlements that include Medicare set-asides and define penalty amounts, could increase the likelihood of significant fines for noncompliance and prolong settlement negotiations, they say. The Centers for Medicare &…
Indemnity benefits per claim in Illinois increased 5% in 2022, driven by a 4% increase in workers’ wages, a new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found. A 0.8-week increase in the average duration of temporary disability also contributed to the rise in indemnity benefits, the study said. The study found that Illinois also saw declining medical payments…
