Are you an “essential worker?” Am I? Does the contribution you make to the economy and society in general through the course of your work make any difference? Are we essential, or not? Doesn’t every position hold some value to the greater good?

Civil discourse in the workers’ compensation industry can at times be a challenge. The adversarial and sometimes acrimonious nature of the work we do doesn’t always bring the best out of people.

The COVID-19 response has poured unprecedented focus and energy into medical innovation. Technology and care methods that seemed years from widespread adoption are becoming new realities.

A criminal investigation was underway after a fiery explosion left 12 firefighters injured as they fought flames engulfing a single-story commercial building in the Toy District of downtown Los Angeles over the weekend, officials said.

It almost feels like the second in a series, what with this article’s title being so similar to the last one posted in this blog. In that article, we asked, “We Don’t Pay for Viruses, Do We?” (Short answer: Now we do). Today, however, we discuss a completely unrelated topic.

As COVID-19 continues to challenge the nation, the workers’ compensation industry is busy grappling with its own questions regarding the impact and responsibilities surround the virus. Compensability for employees who claim they contracted the illness on the job remains a very big question.

In today’s world, data is readily available. In an instant, your smartphone can tell you how many steps you’ve walked today, how many hours you’ve spent on Instagram and how many times you took an Uber last month.

Two forces have emerged that will reshape the workers’ comp system for years to come. The first is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created sudden and deep shifts to personal health practices and healthcare delivery. To reduce COVID-19’s impact, much of the U.S. population is avoiding public spaces and travel, causing enormous disruption across a range of industries, from airlines to hospitality. This change has ignited a global recession.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting 957,875 cases of COVID-19 as April comes to a close, indicating that for most of the United States, work from home arrangements for those lucky enough to have them will continue for some time.

The effect of COVID-19 on workers compensation could range from $1 billion to $80 billion, according to a National Council on Compensation Insurance study that modeled the potential impacts of the virus.

More than 73% of companies have not yet created a return-to-work strategy, according to a survey of 150 professionals by attorneys at Philadelphia-based law firm Blank Rome LP released Thursday.

The survey polled clients that included C-suite executives, in-house counsel and human resources professionals in a wide range of industries from April 18-24, finding that more than a third of companies are relying on their state, local or regional authorities to create their return-to-work strategy, though slightly more than half of respondents said they were in the beginning stages of designing a plan.

Homeschooling children, caring for sick relatives and worrying about job security are just some of the new stressors American workers are facing in the wake of COVID-19. The novel coronavirus has shaken up our daily lives, and many people may be wondering if we can ever go back to normal after this.

The New York Workers’ Compensation Alliance is calling on the state government to guarantee that workers’ compensation will include COVID-19 workplace exposure for all workers.

On March 18, 2020, a bipartisan group of U.S. House members asked the insurance industry to retroactively recognize financial losses relating to COVID-19 as covered claims under commercial property insurance policies that either explicitly or implicitly do not provide such coverage.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has ordered insurers to return premiums from certain lines to businesses and consumers. This has raised pressure on those insurers to take larger steps to reduce customer financial burden caused by COVID-19.