Washington, DC – The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that there were 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers in 2018, unchanged from 2017. These data are estimates from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). The incidence rate for total recordable cases (TRC) in private industry… [Read more]
Association, Rating & Research News
AM Best Assigns Credit Ratings to Synergy Insurance Company
Oldwick, NJ -(BusinessWire)- AM Best has assigned a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” to Synergy Insurance Company (Synergy) (Charlotte, NC). The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect Synergy’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as very strong, as well… [Read more]
CWCI: Drop in California Workers’ Comp Opioid use Reducing Costs and Lost Time
Oakland, CA – The prevalence of opioids in California workers’ comp lost-time claims has dropped 51% over the past decade, reducing both average benefit payments and average days away from work on those claims, so 10-year costs on 2010 through 2017 claims systemwide are projected to decline by an estimated $6.5 billion according to a… [Read more]
NSC Announces Amazon Sponsorship to Support Women in Safety
Itasca, IL – The National Safety Council recently announced it has received a $125,000 sponsorship from Amazon to support women in safety. The sponsorship will go toward bolstering three NSC initiatives: the Council’s Marion Martin Award, Women in Safety Scholarship program and Women’s Division. Although women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, they… [Read more]
2020 WCRI Conference Features Session on How Injuries, Claims, and Outcomes Change with Age
Cambridge, MA – The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) announced today that their 36th Annual Issues & Research Conference, March 5 and 6, 2020, at the Westin Copley Place in Boston, will feature a session on how injuries, claims, and outcomes change with age. According to WCRI, the age distribution of the workforce is projected… [Read more]
New Chair, Members Appointed to National Safety Council Board of Directors
Itasca, IL – The National Safety Council welcomed a new chair and 11 new members to its board of directors. Andrew Johnson, executive vice president and chief risk control officer at Captive Resources LLC, is board chair. He succeeds Mark Vergnano, CEO and president of The Chemours Company. The 11 new board members voted in… [Read more]
AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Insurance Company of the West and Subsidiaries; Assigns Others
Oldwick, NJ -(BusinessWire)- AM Best recently affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “a” of Insurance Company of the West (ICW) and two of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Explorer Insurance Company (Explorer) and VerTerra Insurance Company (VerTerra). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings)… [Read more]
CompPharma Survey Reveals Payer Concern Over PBM Transparency in Pricing
Maggie Valley, NC – CompPharma’s 16th Annual Survey of Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Compensation points to a keen interest in transparency in pharmacy pricing. Additionally, opioid prescriptions declined along with overall pharmacy spend. “Eighty-three percent of the respondents considered the lack of transparency in pricing to be the number-one problem in work comp pharmacy,”… [Read more]
WCRI Study: Workers’ Compensation Medical Payments in Minnesota Stable
Cambridge, MA – Medical payments per claim in Minnesota remained stable from 2012 to 2017, according to a recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). The study, CompScope™ Medical Benchmarks for Minnesota, 20th Edition, compared Minnesota with workers’ compensation systems in 17 other states. This study also examined how the metrics of medical… [Read more]
WCF Mutual and Mitchell Release Study on Opioid Guidelines-Based Program in Utah
San Diego, CA – WCF Mutual Insurance Company and Mitchell recently published a study about the use of opioids by injured workers in workers’ compensation claims in Utah. The results of the study are especially significant for Utah, a state that ranked seventh in drug poisoning deaths between 2013 and 2015 and has been in… [Read more]