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.

Under normal circumstances, internist Jenni Levy makes house calls, checking on patients with chronic conditions and serving as what she calls "rolling urgent care."

The next frontier of injury prevention is occupational exoskeletons — wearable devices that physically assist, augment and support workers and help bolster workplace safety when traditional ergonomic controls are not feasible.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining work in nearly every industry thanks to the increase in accuracy, efficiency and cost-effectiveness that AI-based applications offer. One of the latest industries to benefit is insurance, where applications are now being deployed to help detect and reduce provider fraud through advanced predictive tools.

It’s no secret that return-to-work is an important part of workers’ comp. Getting an injured worker back on the job and back to their full health marks the successful end to a workers’ comp claim and it allows the employee to get back to living their life.

Workers’ comp is singularly ill-equipped to handle COVID-19…but some organizations are making solid progress. The industry’s antipathy towards change, resistance to anything smacking of risk, and rejection of most anything remotely "innovative" ensures many payers, vendors, regulators and other stakeholders won’t be able to handle the fallout from COVID-19.

Dr. Richard Victor, founder of WCRI and senior fellow at the Sedgwick Institute, recently released a book focusing on futuristic scenarios for the workers’ compensation industry in macroeconomic terms. Victor’s book, entitled ​Scenarios for the 2030s: Threats and Opportunities for Workers’ Compensation Systems​, is a wide-ranging and rigorously researched manifesto, addressing everything from the intricacies of labor shortages in the U.S. to health care reform and case shifting.

There is much discussion right now on the impact that COVID-19 (Coronavirus) will have on workers’ compensation. Most of this discussion has focused on the potential for claims activity arising from the virus.

When employees work remotely from home or other locations, the normal rules of course and scope can become complicated and confusing. The same is true of subrogation potential. When the employee is injured in their home, subrogation targets tend to shrivel up and blow away.