The latest Out Front Ideas With Kimberly and Mark webinar brought together a panel of industry experts to explore current trends being seen in COVID-19 claims, as well as long-term medical complications and what risk managers should be monitoring in the future.

It is a common and sometimes justifiable concern for some employees around the nation. They worry that if they file a workers' compensation claim they will be fired by their employer.

When someone gets hurt on the job, the workers' compensation system is often adept at zeroing in on an injury and delivering timely care. But that well-intentioned focus on a patient's physical bruises can make it easy to miss the mental ones, which might be harder to spot.

Zurich North America has announced that it is utilizing Jopari Solutions' eBill platform to expand its capabilities and support receipt of electronic medical bills for workers' compensation claims in all states.

Last November the residents of California told the state, by a fairly substantial margin, to keep their labor employment law mittens off of rideshare gig workers. Proposition 22, designed to 'define app-based transportation (rideshare) and delivery drivers as independent contractors and adopt labor and wage policies specific to app-based drivers and companies,' passed with a 58.6% to 41.4% vote.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic upended their lives, workers were experiencing all kinds of disruption. Industries from tech to insurance were focused on innovation, and employees were hit with endless change and high expectations.

It seems that, as a society, there is always something to worry about. Even when good news breaks through the din of negativity we still seem to find elements of concern to worry about.

The monthly count of COVID-19 job injury claims reported to the California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) soared to a record 32,549 cases in December, bringing the total number of COVID-19 claims for accident year (AY) 2020 to 103,712, or more than one out of every six workers’ comp claims with a 2020 injury date according to a new analysis by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI).

About $55.4 million was paid out in Florida for more than 29,000 COVID-19 medical and indemnity claims in 2020, according to a report released Tuesday by the Florida Division of Workers Compensation.

Each year, I provide the absence and disability management trends I see shaping the workplace for the coming year.

For workers' comp, lower back pain is a common workers' injury. It can occur among industrial workers who are lifting heavy workers and office workers who may not have the ergonomic resources they need.

In the state of Ohio, a light-duty job offer is a strategic way to either bring an injured worker back to the workforce or bar temporary total compensation, should the injured worker reject a valid offer. Either way, it can aid employers in eliminating, minimizing, and/or stopping temporary total disability compensation from being paid in a claim.

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout has begun in health care and senior living facilities across the U.S., and employers in many industries are eagerly awaiting the chance to have their employees vaccinated against the coronavirus. However, employers must balance their desire for a safe workplace with the risks of requiring vaccinations and the potential workers compensation implications if a worker experiences serious side effects, experts say.

An air-powered, inflatable costume, worn by a staff member on Christmas to spread holiday cheer, may be to blame for a coronavirus outbreak that infected dozens of workers in a hospital in San Jose, Calif., a hospital spokeswoman said.

Only one type of healthcare professional is part of every conversation patients have while receiving care. It's not a nurse, not a case manager, certainly not a doctor ... Need a hint? It's someone who acts as the voice for all of the above, as well as for the patient - the interpreter. For patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), the entirety of their care is mediated through the voices of interpreters.