Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features the release of another edition of WCRI’s CompScope Benchmarks, which examined the Massachusetts system and found that indemnity benefits per claim in Massachusetts decreased 7% in 2021 following a sizable increase in the previous year.
The study noted that duration of temporary disability was a major driver of indemnity trends in both years, increasing 10% in 2020 and then dropping by 7% in 2021. WCRI also noted that economic recovery in the state has been strong but uneven. Sectors hit the hardest by the pandemic (eg leisure and hospitality, education and health services) have not recovered all the jobs that were lost, which may help explain why TD duration decreased in 2021 but remained above its pre-pandemic level.