Q4 – 2024 – January 24, 2025
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Research WCIS Interactive App. CWCI is preparing to launch a new interactive application detailing AY 2018–2024 insured and self-insured claim counts and demographic data on those claims as reported to the DWC’s Workers’ Compensation Information System. The app will allow members to examine trends based on the number of reported or projected claims by year, by quarter and year, or by month and year; and to build customized views w/results broken out for insured or self-insured claims; by denial status; body part; and for COVID, non-COVID or all claims. The app also tracks the number and rate of death claims. Filters can be used to derive detailed data on claims by cause of injury, nature of injury, and claimant age; to note changes in the avg number of days to employer and carrier notification; and to view claim distributions by region and industry. To test drive the app, we used it to measure the number of ag claims from the past 7 years caused by extreme temps – nearly all of which were heat claims. This was a “hot” topic in this summer’s debate over SB 1299 which would have granted a presumption to ag workers for heat injury claims if the employer was deemed out of compliance with Cal/OSHA’s outdoor heat illness standard. In June, a CWCI analysis used WCIS nature of injury data from 100,777 AY 2019-2023 ag claims to show that the bill would have little impact, as only 0.65% of all ag claims involved heat injuries. Using the new app, we compiled an expanded sample of 161,337 ag claims from 2018-2024 then grouped them by nature of injury code, isolating the heat-related claims using the same codes used in June (angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, or vascular loss during the hot months of May–October, and those involving heat prostration in any month). The results showed 986 heat-related injury claims – only 0.61% of all Ag claims from the 7-year period, slightly below the 0.65% figure from the earlier analysis, underscoring the conclusion that a presumption for farmworker heat injuries would do little to improve ag worker safety. The new app will be posted under the Research tab on our home page. Executive Briefing (12/18/24) (members only) MTUS Formulary Interactive Data Tool – Updated 12-17-24. The Institute’s online application that shows the breakdown of medications within each version of the MTUS Prescription Drug Formulary by formulary category: Exempt, Non-Exempt, Not Listed, and Special Fill, and Perioperative drugs. The application allows CWCI members to identify which drugs were added to or dropped from the formulary and when; find where approximately 100 therapeutic drug groups and hundreds of specific drugs have been categorized; track changes in prescription and payment distributions among the formulary categories beginning with pre-formulary years (CY 2016 and 2017) and extending into the post-formulary years beginning with CY 2018; find the average wholesale price (AWP) and the average amount paid for specific drugs (by drug ingredient) over time; and view lists of the top 20 drugs by formulary category, broken out either by calendar year or by formulary version. Interactive Tool Update (12/17/24) (members only) CWCI Claims Monitoring Interactive Data Tool – Updated 12/11/24. The latest update to CWCI’s Claims Monitoring Interactive Application which features AY 2009 – June AY 2024 data (valued as of June 2024) on average medical payments, average paid indemnity, and combined medical and indemnity payments at nine levels of development ranging from 3 months to 72 months post injury. Interactive Tool Update (12/11/24) (members only) Prescription Drug Interactive Tool – Updated 12-11-24. The latest iteration of CWCI’s online application that can be used to examine and compare industrywide prescription drug data derived from prescriptions dispensed to injured workers between January 2016 and June 2024. This tool can be used to view statewide or regional prescription drug data either for all claims or for just indemnity claims, for open and/or closed claims; for specific drug groups; by opioid drug name; for generic and/or brand drugs; for specific industries; and for specific accident years or service years. Interactive Tool Update (12/11/24) (members only) IRIS Regional Scorecard Interactive Tool – Updated 12-11-24. An interactive application based on updated IRIS data on AY 2010 through June 2024 claims from 7 different regions of the state that can be used to compare regional results to statewide data on key metrics, compare results between specific regions, and identify regional and statewide trends that have developed. Interactive Tool Update (12/11/24) (members only) Medical Services Interactive Tool – Updated 12-11-24. An update to CWCI’s Medical Services App traces the use and cost of professional medical services over time, valued as of June 2024. Utilization is measured on a per visit, per day or per line basis depending on the service category.Executive Briefing (11/29/23) (members only) Interactive Tool Update (12/11/24) (members only) The Impact of Medical Inflation on the OMFS. A CWCI Report to the Industry focused on the price indices used to adjust payment rates in different sections of the Official Medical Fee Schedule (OMFS) sections. The analysis found that physician and non-physician practitioner service fees represent more than half of all Calif WC treatment payments and that differences in the inflationary factors used in the OMFS and in Medicare explain the growing differential between Calif WC and Medicare rates for these professional services. The report notes that over the past decade, inflationary adjustments to the OMFS conversion factor used to calculate the physician and non-physician fees in the OMFS Professional Services section have not aligned with Medicare because in 2015 Medicare suspended the use of the Medicare Economic Index (MEI) which measures the inflation physicians face in their practice costs and wage levels, and shifted to statutory changes set by the U.S. Congress. In Calif WC, however, use of the MEI remains mandated by statute. While statutory annual adjustments to the Medicare conversion factor were minimal (0.5%) from 2015 – 2019, and the DWC did not adopt them, from 2021 to 2024, Congress mandated increases ranging between 1.25% and 3.75% per year for Medicare, which DWC incorporated into the OMFS in addition to the MEI adjustments. As a result, the OMFS conversion factor as a percentage of Medicare for professional services rose from 124.4% in 2017 to 145.7% in 2024. Executive Briefing (11/21/24) (members only) Report to the Industry (11/18/24) (members only) Bulletin (11/18/24) (members only) News Release (11/18/24) (public) IMR Update Through Q3 24. CWCI’s latest statistics on Independent Medical Review show 105,794 IMR decision letters issued in the first 9 months of 2024 – up 7% from the first 9 months of 2023. After reviewing injured worker records and other info to support the treatment requests, IMR physicians upheld the UR modifications or denials 87.9% of the time, down from the 89.6% uphold rate from 2023 and the lowest uphold rate since CWCI began monitoring IMR activity in 2014. Pharmacy decisions as a percent of all IMR decisions have dropped sharply over the past 10 years, falling from just over half of all IMRs in 2015 to one-third of the IMRs in the first 9 months of this year – but after declining for most of the past decade, the Rx drug determinations’ share of the IMR decisions has stabilized over the past couple of years, accounting for 33.3% of the decisions in 2022 and 32.2% in 2023. The ongoing reduction in the number of disputes over opioid requests has helped propel the decline in Rx Drug IMRs. CWCI data show that since the DWC incorporated ACOEM’s Pain Mgt & Opioid Guidelines into the MTUS in December 2017 and the MTUS Drug Formulary took effect in January 2018, IMR decisions related to opioid requests have fallen from 32.0% of the Rx Drug IMR decisions in 2018 to 21.2% of the Rx drug determinations in the first three quarters of this year. Furthermore, the IMR uphold rate for UR denials or modifications of opioid requests was 94.2% from January through September of this year, the second highest level in the past decade. Disputes over requests for PT services, injections, and DMEPOS ranked behind Rx Drugs in terms of IMR volume, comprising about 1/3 of the decisions through Q3 2024. IMR uphold rates for the various service categories through September ranged from 74.7% for E&M to 92.7% for acupuncture. A small number of physicians continued to account for most of the disputed medical service requests sent through IMR. The top 10% of physicians identified in the IMR decision letters issued in the 12-month period ending 09/30/24 (about 810 providers) accounted for 83.7% of the requests, while the top 1% (80 providers) accounted for 41.7%. Executive Briefing (11/21/24) (members only) Detailed Statistics (11/21/24) (members only) Q2 2023 Insured Experience. On 10/8/24, WCIRB issued its Quarterly Experience Report based on statewide insurer experience valued as of 6/30/24. Highlights include: After declining steadily since 2015, the avg WC charged rate per $100 of payroll increased in the first half of this year, climbing from $1.60 in 2023 to $1.63 for the 6 months ending in June; despite the increase in avg charged rates, total DWP for the first half of 2024 was $8.3 billion, 2% less than the corresponding figure from the first half of 2023. The latest full-year results show total DWP for 2023 was $15.9 billion vs. $15.7 billion in 2022. Projected ultimate medical severity for AY 2023 claims will increase 2% to $32,467, up 20% since AY 2017; projected ultimate indemnity per claim rose less than 0.5% from $29,190 for AY 2022 claims to $29,329 for AY 2023, but the 2023 avg is up 22.1% since AY 2017. ALAE severities which were largely flat for over a decade rose sharply in 2022 and 2023. ALAE severity jumped 10.5% in 2022 and 13% in 2023, partly due to a slower settlement rate and higher post-pandemic defense costs. Avg MCC costs rose 5% in 2023 but remained in the range they have been in since 2016. Projected ultimate total cost per AY 2023 indemnity claim rose 3% to $76,012, which is up 22% from the AY 2017 level and the highest level it’s been since before the passage of the 2012 reforms. After climbing from 53% in AY 2017 to 81% in AY 2022, the industry’s projected loss ratio registered a marginal increase for the 2nd year in a row, climbing to 84% in AY 2023, up from 81% in AY 2022 and 83% in AY 2021. The increase in claim severity more than offset the increase in DWP, so the projected combined ratio for AY 2023 is 113%, up from 109% in AY 2022, though still below the 115% combined ratio in AY 2021. Executive Briefing (10/25/24) (members only) Opioid Prescribing for Injured Workers Covered by California Workers’ Compensation System and Other Payers: 2017-2023. A CWCI analysis of 2017-2023 opioid prescription data from the California Department of Justice’s Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) database tracks opioid utilization in the state, noting the percentage change in the number of opioid patients overall and within workers’ compensation from 2017 through 2023. The report also measures changes in the average strength of the daily dose of morphine equivalents (the “morphine equivalent dose” or MED) and the average duration of opioid use for workers’ comp opioid patients and compares those results to those for all opioid patients in the state to show the extent to which the decline in opioid use has differed between California workers’ compensation patients and the state’s overall population. Opioid utilization metrics are also compared to treatment guidelines to identify the proportion of patients whose opioid use exceeded guideline recommendations and how these proportions changed over time. Executive Briefing (10/25/24) (members only) Report to the Industry (10/22/24) (members only) Bulletin (10/22/24) (members only) News Release (10/22/24) (public) Trends in the Utilization and Reimbursement of Migraine Drugs in California Workers Compensation. A CWCI analysis of data from the Institute’s Prescription Drug Application on medications dispensed to California injured workers through December 2023 spotlights the growing use and cost of Migraine Drugs in workers’ compensation. The report finds that while Migraine Drugs still accounted for less than 1% of all prescriptions dispensed to California injured workers in 2023 (14th among therapeutic drug groups), their utilization and their share of the workers’ compensation total drug spend have increased sharply over the past 5 years, and because of their relatively high average reimbursement per prescription, in 2023 they accounted for 4.7% of all California workers’ compensation pharmaceutical payments, ranking sixth among the drug groups, just behind Opioids, and ahead of Antidepressants and Musculoskeletal Drugs. To quantify the growing use and cost of these drugs and gain a better understanding of what is driving recent increases, the report reviews situations in which migraine may be considered a work-related illness, tracks the growth of Migraine Drugs as a percentage of California workers’ comp prescriptions and the total drug spend within the system from 2018 through 2023, and reviews recent changes in the Migraine Drug market and the drugs used to treat injured workers. The analysis points to 6 relatively new brand drugs that have become Migraine Drug cost drivers, reviewing each drug, providing information on where they may fit within the treatment regimen of a migraine patient, tracing their introduction into California workers’ compensation, and measuring changes in their utilization and reimbursement since their FDA approvals.Executive Briefing (10/25/24) (members only) Report to the Industry (10/22/24) (members only) Bulletin (10/22/24) (members only) News Release (10/22/24) (public) IMR Update Through Q2 2024. CWCI’s review of IMR activity and outcomes through the first half of 2024 shows that after increasing 2.9 percent between 2022 and 2023, the number of decision letters rose 2.8 percent in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023. Overall, IMR physicians upheld UR modifications and denials 88.0% of the time in the first half of 2024, down from 89.6 percent for all of 2023. The overall IMR uphold rates have ranged between 88.0 percent and 92.0 percent over the past decade. Disputed prescription drug requests accounted for one-third of the IMRs in the first 6 months of the year, similar to 2023, followed by PT (13.1 percent), Injections (12.5 percent), DMEPOS (8.7 percent) and MRIs,CTs and PET scans (5.3 percent). IMR uphold rates by medical service category ranged from 74.1 percent for E/M services to 92.8 percent for acupuncture. The review of the IMR letters from January through June 2024 showed Rx drug requests still accounted for the largest share of IMR decisions, though that proportion has declined from almost half of all IMRs in 2015 to one-third of the IMRs in 2023. Disputes over opioids accounted for 21.8% of the Rx drug IMRs last year, but that was down from 30.3% in 2015, while disputes over dermatologicals (21.8%), musculoskeletal drugs (18.0%), and anticonvulsants (10.1%) all represented a growing share of the Rx drug IMRs compared to 2015. Medical service categories that represented a growing share of the IMRs over the past decade include PT, which increased from 8.3% of the IMR disputes in 2015 to 13.1% in the first half of 2024; injections, which increased from 6.9% of the 2015 IMRs to 12.5% of the January to June 2024 IMRs; and acupuncture, which more than doubled from 2.2% of the 2015 IMRs to 4.8 in the first six months of this year. IMR App Update (10/4/24) (member only)
Statutory/Regulatory California WC Medical Mileage Rate To Increase For Travel o/a 1/1/25. In late December the IRS issued a news release announcing that the standard mileage rate for business miles will increase from 67.0 cents per mile to 70.0 cents per mile effective 1/1/25. As a result, the amount payable to California injured workers for travel related to medical treatment or evaluation of injuries also will increase to the new rate. WC claims administrators should apply the new rate for travel on or after January 1, 2025, regardless of the date of injury, but should continue to pay the current rate of 67.0 cents per mile for travel that occurred during calendar year 2024. The DWC is aware of the increase and is expected to issue a Newsline at www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/dwc_newsline.html. The mileage rate has been adjusted multiple times over the past decade, so the DWC also has posted downloadable mileage-expense forms in English and Spanish that show applicable rates by travel date under “Medical Forms” on its Forms page (click here). Given the short lead time due to the holidays, CWCI recommended alerting claims staff and system programmers immediately of the mileage rate change for medical travel o/a 1/1/25.Executive Briefing (12/20/23) (members only) Executive Memo (12/19/24) (members only) Bulletin (12/19/24) (members only) News Release (12/19/24) (public) DWC Transitioning to CourtCall Video Platform for Hearings. Effective March 1, 2025, DWC will be moving from telephone conference lines used for status conferences, mandatory settlement conferences, priority conferences, and lien conferences to the CourtCall video platform which was designed to provide an organized and voluntary way for attorneys to appear for routine matters in Civil, Family, Criminal, Probate, Bankruptcy, WC and other cases from remote locations. Each WCJ will have a link to their virtual courtroom on the CourtCall video platform, and between now and March the links will be posted on DWC’s website and included on hearing notices. Every courtroom will also have a call-in number if needed by the parties. DWC believes that this change will provide greater functionality for hearings and allow parties more flexibility during the conference process. There will be no charge for this service and training videos will be available on the DWC website. All trials, lien trials, and expedited hearings will continue to be set in person. Executive Briefing (12/18/24) (members only) Avg WCMSA Fell Slightly in 2024. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that the avg WC Medicare set-aside recommended by CMS’s WC review contractor edged down 0.6% in FY 2023-24, declining from $86,452.67 in FY 2022/23 to $85,927.43. On avg, 2023-24 recommendations set aside $68,120.78 for medical care, up 2.4% from $66,527.86 the prior year, but that was largely offset by a reduction in the avg set aside for Rx drugs, which fell 10.6%, from $19,924.81 to $17,806.65. Notably, the avg WC Review contractor’s set-aside recommendation of nearly $86K for the 14,862 claims reviewed in FY 2023-24 was 21% higher than the avg proposed set-aside amount of $70,775.58 submitted by the WC claims administrator. CMS’s WCMSA statistics for FY 2023-24 are here. Executive Briefing (12/18/24) (members only) Overtime Exemption Rule Up in the Air. In November, a federal judge in Texas blocked a Dept of Labor Rule enacted in July that increased the minimum salary required for Executive, Administrative, or Professional (“EAP” or “white-collar”) overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”). To fall w/in the EAP exemption, employees generally must: 1) be paid a salary (i.e., be paid a predetermined, fixed amount not subject to reduction because of variations in the quality or quantity of work); 2) be paid at least a specified weekly salary level; and 3) primarily perform EAP duties as defined by the DOL regs. The regs also provide an alternative test for certain “highly compensated employees” (HCEs) who are paid a salary, earn above a higher total annual compensation level, and satisfy a minimal duties test. The new rule did not change the EAP job duties tests, but a/o 7/1/24, the standard salary threshold for exempting salaried workers from federal OT requirements rose from $684/wk ($35,568/yr) to $844/wk ($43,888/yr), and a/o 1/1/25 it was set to increase to $1,128/wk ($58,656/yr). As of July 2027, the threshold was to be updated every 3 years to reflect current earnings. DOL estimated that 1 million U.S. workers were affected by the 7/1/24 increase in the exempt employee threshold w/another 3 million affected by the 1/1/25 increase. In addition the HCE annual compensation threshold went from $107,432 to $132,964 on 7/1/24; and was set to increase to $151,164 on 1/1/25. However, the federal court said DOL exceeded its authority and vacated the rule for all employers. On Nov. 26, DOL appealed that ruling but it’s unclear if the Trump Administration will pursue the appeal. Executive Briefing (12/18/24) (members only) Annual Report of Inventory Reminder. CWCI reminded members that their Annual Report of Inventory (ARI) noting the number of claims reported at each adjusting location in CY 2024 must be submitted to the DWC Audit Unity by 4/1/25 and failure to meet the deadline may result in penalties of up to $500/adjusting location (CCR §10104). Even if there were no claims reported in 2024, or if the adjusting location did not receive an ARI form from the DWC, the report must be completed and submitted unless the claims administrator’s ARI requirement has been waived, in which case it must file an annual report of adjusting locations by 4/1/25 listing its adjusting locations as of 12/31/24. Questions about the ARI may be directed to DWCAuditUnit@dir.ca.gov or (916) 928-3180. More details, including the updated DWC-851 form (Rev. 2024), and instructions are here. Executive Memo (12/4/24) (members only) Executive Briefing (12/18/24) (members only) User Funding Assessment Rates for 2025. The DIR issued the 2025 assessments that workers’ compensation insurers are required to collect from policyholders to cover the budget of the state Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) and five related programs set up by state lawmakers. Insurers should apply the rates against their policyholders’ estimated annual assessable premium for policies incepting January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. The DIR issued separate rates that self-insured and California legally uninsured employers must apply against the total amount of workers’ compensation indemnity they paid. The rate calculations and instructions were mailed to workers’ comp insurers and self-insured and legally uninsured employers. The first installment is due by January 1, 2025, the second installment is due by April 1, 2025. Executive Memo (11/26/24) (members only) Executive Briefing (12/18/24) (members only) Bulletin (11/26/24) (members only) News Release (11/26/24) (public) WC Posting Notice Revised. At the end of October the DWC finalized changes to the DWC Form 7 (Notice to Employees—Injuries Caused By Work) as mandated by AB 1870, a CAAA-backed bill signed by Gov. Newsom in July that added required language to the English and Spanish WC posting notices to inform employees of their right to consult an attorney and that in most instances, attorney fees will be paid out of what they recover as a result of their claims. Employers and claims administrators can fill-in the employer-specific blanks on the newly approved DWC 7 form and download free English and Spanish copies from the Division’s online forms page at www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/forms.html, or they can request copies from 1-800-736-7401. Claims organizations may develop their own version of the DWC 7 but must add the new language about attorneys and submit it to the DWC for approval and distribute the updated notices to their policyholders before 1/1/25. Failure to provide current information to employees can lead to loss of medical control for any injury occurring during the time of that failure, steep civil penalties for each violation and the tolling of the statute of limitations for filing claims. An employer’s failure to keep the posting notice posted is considered a misdemeanor and prima facie evidence of noninsurance. Executive Memo (9/13/24) (members only) Executive Briefing (11/21/24) (members only) DOI Releases FY 2023/24 WC Fraud Data. The Dept. of Insurance Fraud Division reports that the number of WC fraud referrals it received in FY 2023/24 rose 2.9% from the prior year – the first year-over-year increase since before the pandemic. The 2,926 referrals resulted in 280 investigations, of which 145 were submitted to local DA’s for prosecution. Insurers reported 2,147 (63%) of the referrals, up from 1,683 referrals (59% of the reported cases) in FY 2022/23. Most cases continue to originate in So. Calif, with claimant fraud accounting for nearly three quarters (73%) of the referrals; premium fraud accounting for about 10%, and capping accounting for 3.4%. In 2.3% of the referred cases the employer had no WC insurance, while an additional 2.3% involved employers who misclassified their employees to reduce their premium. Notably the number of capping cases was up dramatically from the prior year, climbing from just 4 cases in FY 2022/23 to 99 cases in FY 2023/24. Executive Briefing (11/21/24) (members only) Postmortem on 2024 Bills that Did Not Get Enacted. CWCI’s summary of enacted bills highlighted 17 bills of interest to the WC community that Gov. Newsom signed. All told, the Gov. acted on 1,206 bills, signing 1,017 and vetoing 189 (15.7%). The Sept. Exec Briefing noted his vetoes of 3 bills of interest to WC stakeholders: SB 636, which would have required UR physicians for private employers to be licensed in Calif; AB 2872 which would have eliminated the 21% pay gap between DOJ and DOI fraud investigators (which makes it hard for DOI to recruit and retain investigators); and SB 1058, which would have extended 4850 benefits to county and special district park rangers. In addition, the Gov. waited until the final week to veto 2 other closely watched bills:
Several other WC bills never made it to Newsom’s desk: SB 1346, this year’s attempt to alter the 104-week TD cap by excluding TD paid or due during the resolution of medical disputes if a UR denial is overturned; AB 3106 which would have required schools to pay COVID-19 positive employees to stay home per certain RTW guidelines; and SB 1205, which originally would have required employers to provide TD to workers for time missed from work to attend WC medical appts. Notably, before it was ordered to the inactive file, SB 1205 was amended to make an employer’s denial of an employee request to attend a scheduled WC treatment during work hours a LC §132A violation. When the smoke cleared, this year’s most controversial bills affecting the WC industry either never made it to the governor’s desk or were vetoed, so despite ongoing efforts by some stakeholders to undermine the successful reforms of the past 2 decades, only minor tweaks to the system were made. Executive Briefing (10/25/24) (members only) DWC Announces CY 2025 PAR & FCA Audit Standards. Each year the DWC calculates overall claim operation performance ratings based on composite scores for such measures as payment of accrued and undisputed indemnity; late first payment of temporary disability and first notice of salary continuation; late first payment of permanent disability and death benefits; late subsequent indemnity payments; and provision of notices with qualified medical evaluator and agreed medical evaluator advice. The Division then uses the ratings from the last three years to set standards for upcoming audits. On October 16, the Division announced that the 2025 audit standards, based on 2021-2023 audit results. The PAR standard for 2025 will be 1.57376; the full compliance audit standard will be 2.14192. Executive Memo (10/16/24) (members only) Executive Briefing (10/25/24) (members only) 2025 Benefit Bump Up Following SAWW Increase. California’s State Avg Weekly Wage (SAWW) rose nearly 3.8 percent in the year ending March 31, 2024, which will result in an increase in California workers’ compensation temporary total disability (TTD) and permanent total disability (PTD) rates for 2025 work injury claims and other workers’ compensation benefits that are tied to SAWW increases. The latest wage data from the U.S. Dept of Labor show that California’s SAWW increased by 3.77588 percent from $1,642 in the first quarter of 2023 to $1,704 in the first quarter of 2024. As a result, the TTD/PTD maximum rate, which stands at $1,619.15 per week for 2024 injuries, will increase by an additional $61.14 to $1,680.29 per week for claims with injury dates on or after January 1, 2025. State law also ties minimum weekly TTD/PTD rates to SAWW increases, so those minimums will rise by $9.17 from the current $242.86 per week to $252.03 per week for claims with 2025 injury dates. The DWC provided the new TTD/PTD rates for 2025 injury claims and plans to issue a Newsline announcing the new rates. DWC Newslines can be accessed here. Also beginning on January 1, 2025, other workers’ compensation benefits, including TTD paid two years or more after injury, life pension and PTD payments for injuries on or after January 1, 2003, and installment payments on death claims will be going up due to the SAWW increase. Underpayment of benefits results in penalties, so CWCI encourages claims administrators to review changes in benefit rates with legal counsel to assure that adjustments are appropriate and accurate. Executive Memo (10/15/24) (members only) Executive Briefing (10/25/24) (members only) Bulletin (10/15/24) (members only) News Release (10/15/24) (public) CWCI’s Annual Summary of Enacted Legislation for 2024. 2024 was a quiet year for workers’ comp legislation, with a handful of controversial measures failing to make it out of the Legislature or vetoed by Gov. Newsom. CWCI did however identify 17 bills of interest to the WC community that were enacted during the 2024 legislative session and in its annual summary provides links to the final bills and a description of each of these bills. Bulletin (10/1/24) (members only) New Electronic Record Submission Rules For High-Hazard Industries. Fed-OSHA issued an order expanding rules for electronic record submission of job injury and illness data. The order, posted on the Federal Register, takes effect 1/1/24. OSHA already requires most employers to maintain illness and injury logs and post a summary each year at their worksite, but only those with 250 or more employees and businesses in certain high-hazard industries with 20 or more employees must provide the OSHA 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries & Illnesses. Under the new rules, as of 2024, in addition to Form 300A, employers with 100+ employees in certain high-hazard industries must electronically submit information from the Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries & Illnesses) and Form 301 (Injury & Illness Incident Report) and include their legal company name. To allow employers, employees, potential employees, employee reps, current and potential customers, the public and researchers to access information about a company’s safety and health record, some data will be posted on OSHA’s website. Individually identifiable information on employees will not be posted, but employer incident data and injury descriptions will be. The rules could increase an employer’s exposure as OSHA will use the data to target employers for inspections; could predetermine if employers should fall under its instance-by-instance citation policy; and use the data to conduct targeted interviews of injured workers instead of random interviews. Now that much of the data will be public, employers that are subject to the new rules should carefully evaluate all injuries and illnesses to make sure that the OSHA standards require them to be recorded before completing and submitting OSHA Forms 300, 301, and 300A. Executive Memo (10/6/23) (members only)
Legal Zenith Insurance Company v. WCAB (Chan). A CWCI amicus letter urging the 6th DCA to issue a Writ of Review or in the alternative a Writ of Mandate to address the pending writ petition on its merits in In a case in which there is an ongoing issue regarding the tolling of the statutory time limit for the Appeals Board to rule on a reconsideration request when administrative error has occurred. Amicus Letter (12/31/24) (members only) CWCI’s 2023 Case Law Seminar. CWCI will conduct its 25th annual California Workers’ Compensation Case Law Seminar on Tuesday, May 23 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The 2023 program will be held as an in-person session at the OCC Conference Center, 500 12th Street, Suite 105, Oakland CA 94607 and simultaneously presented as a live, online video broadcast. The Conference Center is adjacent to 12th Street BART, on the upper level of the Oakland City Center complex. To ensure adequate space for social distancing, the number of in-person seats is limited, and they are available on a first-come / first-served basis, so those wishing to attend in person should register early. Amicus Letter (12/18/24) (members only)
Other Alex Swedlow to Retire in August 2025. Alex Swedlow has announced his plans to step down as President of the California Workers’ Compensation Institute effective August 2025. The CWCI Board of Directors has formed a search committee to begin the task of screening candidates and selecting the next President of the Institute as Mr. Swedlow continues in the role through next summer. News Release (11/25/24) (public) Farewell to Rena. CWCI SVP of Research and CFO Rena David has been transitioning to retirement over the last few months and she will continue to work 2 to 3 days a week until Dec. 13 if anyone needs to get in touch with her. Rena has worn many hats at CWCI for more than a decade, overseeing HR and operations, the Institute’s finances, as well as doing a stellar job of overseeing the Institute’s research team. Rena will be sorely missed by all of us who have worked with her. Please join our staff in congratulating her on a job well done and wishing her all the best in retirement. Executive Briefing (11/21/24) (members only) CWCI 61st Annual Meeting Save the Date. CWCI announced that our 61st Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, April 3, 2025 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sofia Tsakopoulos Center for the Arts in downtown Sacramento. The meeting will feature new research by CWCI staff, presentations by guest speakers, and lively interactive panel discussions. Continental breakfast will be available from 7:45 a.m. to 9 a.m., and a luncheon will be provided at noon. Additional details, including the agenda, guest speakers, and information on local accommodations will be provided later, but in the meantime, members should save the date on their 2025 calendar. Registration will open shortly. Executive Memo (10/17/24) (members only) Executive Briefing (10/25/24) (members only) CWCI Q3 2023 Quarterly Summary. Quarterly listings of all CWCI publications, including publication dates, summaries of each topic and the various formats in which the information is available (e.g., research report, Bulletin, Exec Briefing, news release), so users can choose the level of detail they want to view. Listings include live links so users can click into the CWCI website to access specific documents quickly and easily. |