Reports Highlight Workers’ Comp Injury Trends and Top Concerns

The financial health of the workers’ compensation system and medical inflation are among the top key concerns for industry executives, a recent survey from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) reveals, along with economic uncertainty and the shifting workplace and workforce. 

Financial Health of the System

Executives are wondering whether there will be a turn in the health of the workers’ comp system. According to NCCI’s report, “workers’ compensation combined ratios have been low in recent years due to continued long-term decline in frequency; moderate severity; [and] growing wages. These favorable results for carriers drive loss costs down. When wage growth outpaces frequency and severity changes, loss costs will continue to decrease.” As a result, NCCI states that there does not appear to be any reversal to the current trends on the horizon for the near future.

Medical Inflation

“Industry stakeholders consistently name medical inflation as a top concern, and this year, it is more prevalent than ever,” states NCCI. “Currently, medical inflation and its impact on workers’ comp is moderate and in the range of 2.5-3.5%. Medical inflation behaves differently in workers’ compensation compared to the broader economy.”

NCCI recently began publishing a Medical Inflation Insights report and Workers Compensation Medical Price Index (WCWMI). The report provides a “quarterly overview of the latest insights and analysis into what is driving changes in prices and how these changes may or may not impact workers compensation,” according to NCCI. The index is a “composition of medical cost components from the Producer Price Index and the Consumer Price Index, reweighted using [their] Medical Call data to better match the mix of spend in workers compensation.”

Injury Trends

A separate report, the “2024 Travelers Injury Impact” report, which identifies “trends that can inform businesses of all sizes and across all industries,” analyzed workers compensation claims data from 2017 to 2021.

According to the report, “Thirty-five percent of workplace injuries occurred during a worker’s first year on the job, resulting in more than 6 million missed workdays. First-year injuries made up 32% of all workers’ compensation claim costs.”

The average number of lost workdays by industry are 103 in construction; 83 in transportation; 72 in services; 71 in wholesale; and 67 in manufacturing, with the most common injuries being dislocations (142); fractures (92); inflammation (82); strains and sprains (54); and contusions (30), according to the report.

The claims with the greatest impact on injured employees and a cost of $250,000 or more are slips, trips, and falls; overexertion; being struck by an object; motor vehicle accidents; and caught-in or caught-between hazards, the report states.

The report, according to Travelers, “can assist employers in putting processes and training programs in place that help keep their employees safe and their businesses running.”