Quarterly Newsletter: October

Quarterly Newsletter: October - December 2021

Where Our Work Was Used

Louisiana: Findings from WCRI's CompScope™ Medical Benchmarks for Louisiana, 22nd Edition were referenced by policymakers at a hearing convened by the Louisiana House Committee on Labor & Industrial Relations about the status of efforts to update the Louisiana workers' compensation fee schedule.
Illinois: Findings from WCRI's CompScope™ Medical Benchmarks for Illinois, 21st Edition and Designing Workers’ Compensation Medical Fee Schedules, 2019 were used in a motion before the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission's Medical Fee Advisory Board to increase evaluation and management code reimbursement.
National: Findings from WCRI's study Evaluation of the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Fee Schedule Changes in Delaware were cited in a National Academy of Social Insurance report Workers’ Compensation: Benefits, Costs, and Coverage (2019 data).
California: Findings from WCRI's CompScope™ Benchmarks for California were citied in a report Friction in the California Compensation System by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California.
National: Findings from WCRI's study The Early Impact of COVID-19 on Workers’ Compensation Claim Composition were used by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to brief the Occupational Safety and Health Administration New England Roundtable on using workers’ compensation data and systems to evaluate the impact of COVID-19.
National: Findings from two WCRI flash reports (Indemnity Benefits, Use of Medical Care, and Economic Conditions and How Do Claim Costs, Components of Costs, and Worker Outcomes Differ by Age?) were used by the keynote in their presentation at the National Workers' Compensation Defense Network's 2021 Virtual Annual Conference.
Minnesota: Findings from WCRI’s CompScope™ Medical Benchmarks for Minnesota, 22nd Edition were featured in the December edition of COMPACT, a quarterly publication published by Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's Workers' Compensation Division for workers' compensation professionals.

Latest Research

Browse more studies

Dr. Robert Hartwig to Keynote 2022 WCRI Conference

What began as a public health crisis has morphed into a hydra of economic turmoil and public policy uncertainty on a global scale, with no easy or quick solutions in sight. Dr. Hartwig's keynote presentation will explore the myriad challenges facing the economy today—including enduring labor market dislocations, inflation, concerns over economic growth, and financial market volatility—and their impacts on the workers' compensation line in 2022 and beyond.

WCRI In The News

Below is a sample of the press coverage our research received over the last three months.

House passes federal opioid bill - Insurance Journal
5 Things to Know about COVID-19 and Claim Composition - WorkersCompensation.com
Lynch: WCRI: The Calm in the Storm - Work Comp Central
Telemedicine use expected to endure: WCRI - Business Insurance
In New Jersey, a Topical Analgesic Costs $139. In Illinois, It’s $2,712. See the Problem, Workers’ Comp? - Risk & Insurance

Member Spotlight: Cory Hill, United Auto Workers, Local 3520

Recently, we had the pleasure of talking to one of our members ─ Corey Hill, president of United Auto Workers, Local 3520 in North Carolina ─ about how he came to know WCRI. As the president of UAW, Local 3520, Corey leads a union comprised of over 3,000 union men and women who proudly build Class 8 trucks in Cleveland, North Carolina.

Educating Diverse Groups

Over the last three months, we were invited to share our research findings with a diverse group of policymakers and other stakeholders at large conferences and smaller briefings. Below is a sample.

Conferences/Meetings:

Louisiana Association of Self Insured Employers 30th Annual Conference
NIOSH COVID-19 Workers' Compensation Workgroup
Southern Association of Workers' Compensation Administrators 2021 All Committee Conference
Workers' Compensation Institute 2021 Annual Conference

Briefings:

Michigan Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency
NIOSH