Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features the release of another edition of WCRI’s CompScope Benchmarks, which examined the Texas system and found that trends in indemnity components in the state differed between 2016 and 2021.
Key findings included that before the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas experienced strong growth in employment and wages across most industry sectors, with the unemployment rate close to the national average. During the pandemic (and associated job losses) however, limited return-to-work opportunities for workers with injuries likely contributed to an increased duration of temporary disability in 2020. In 2021, the duration of temporary disability then decreased nearly one week in Texas. The report also notes that indemnity benefits per claim in Texas decreased 5% from 2020 to 2021, following growth of more than 3% from 2019 to 2020.