Association, Rating & Research News

Oldwick, NJ -(BusinessWire)- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) “aa” of the life/health subsidiaries of Delphi Financial Group, Inc. (DFG) (Wilmington, DE): Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company (Schaumburg, IL) and First Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company (New York, NY) (together referred to… [Read more]

Cambridge, MA – The Workers Compensation Research Institute recently released a complimentary research spotlight on select findings from its recent study, Interstate Variations in Dispensing of Opioids, 5th Edition. Opioid dispensing to workers injured on the job has decreased substantially in recent years in all 27 state workers’ compensation systems studied, but increases in non-opioid… [Read more]

Oakland, CA – The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) recently released the Interactive Policy Year Stats – 2019 Edition report that provides premium, exposure and loss information based on unit statistical report data submitted to the WCIRB for policy years 2003 to 2016. This new format was first introduced in 2018, replacing… [Read more]

Boca Raton, FL – NCCI recently released a “What’s Trending” brief in their Insights section that examines the costs of medical transportation in the workers comp system. NCCI notes that the cost of ambulance services has risen in recent years—a single trip can exceed $45,000 for an air ambulance service and $1,400 for a ground… [Read more]

Downers Grove, IL – Coventry recently released part four of its Annual Drug Trends Series Report. In part four of the series Coventry looks at high impact drug classes like topicals, compound kits and combo packs, and specialty medications. While these classes represent proportionately low volume, they can be associated with exponentially significant costs. Recognizing… [Read more]

Oakland, CA – Oakland – New California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) research shows the number of California workers’ compensation inpatient hospital stays fell nearly 31 percent from 2010 through 2018, fueled in large part by a steady decline in spinal fusions. The study, authored by CWCI Senior Research Associate Stacy Jones, uses hospital discharge data… [Read more]

Oldwick, NJ – AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “aa-” of certain members of the ProAssurance Group. Concurrently, AM Best has upgraded the FSR to A+ (Superior) from A (Excellent) and the… [Read more]

Cambridge, MA – The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) Worker Outcomes Survey Team recently received a Comp Laude® Award at WorkCompCentral’s Comp Laude® Awards & Gala. John Ruser, president and CEO of WCRI, accepted the award on behalf of the team. “Congratulations to WCRI’s Worker Outcomes Survey Team (Vennela Thumula, Bogdan Savych, and Te-Chun Liu)… [Read more]

Cambridge, MA – As policymakers and other stakeholders look for ways to improve outcomes for workers injured on the job, one health care delivery model that has received a lot of attention lately is Centers of Excellence (CsOE). Dr. Randall Lea, an orthopedic surgeon and senior research fellow at the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI),… [Read more]