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.<br /><br />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.
