CWCI News

California Workers’ Compensation Institute Elects Board for 2021

Matthew Zender of AmTrust North America, who has served on the executive committee of the California Workers’ Compensation Institute since 2018, has been reelected to serve another one-year term as chairman of the CWCI’s board of directors. Joining Zender on …

Report: California Comp Virus Claim Volume Plummeted in February

The wave of COVID-19 claims that hit the California workers’ compensation system at the end of 2020 has subsided for the time being as the number of claims reported to the state Division of Workers’ Compensation for February fell to …

Study Shows NASIDs Growing in California Workers’ Comp

A new study shows that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) now account for more than one-third of all drugs dispensed to injured workers in California, triple the proportion for opioids. A study from the California Workers’ Compensation Institute released on Wednesday also …

California Passes 103K COVID-19 Workers’ Comp Claims for AY 2020

The monthly count of COVID-19 job injury claims reported rose to a record 32,549 cases in December, bringing the total number of COVID-19 claims for accident year 2020 to 103,712, or more than one out of every six workers’ compensation …

New Wave of Virus Claims Hit California Workers’ Comp

A California Workers’ Compensation Institute analysis of claims reported to the state Division of Workers’ Compensation as of Jan. 11 shows that the number of COVID-19 claims in the California workers’ compensation system more than tripled between October and November, …

California Workers’ Comp Public Self-Insured Med-Only Claims Drop

Initial data on fiscal year 2019/2020 public self-insured claims experience in the California workers’ compensation system show claim volume fell 6.4% compared with the prior year, but medical-only claims accounted for nearly all of that decline, a new report out …

California Workers’ Comp Hospital Stays From 2010 to 2019 Examined

A new study from the California Workers’ Compensation Institute shows the steep drop in the number of inpatient hospitalizations involving injured workers in the state over the past decade was largely due to the ongoing decline in spinal fusions and …

Report: COVID-19 Accounts for 1-in-9 California Workers’ Comp Claims in 2020

The California workers’ compensation COVID-19 claim count continued to grow in August, albeit at a much slower rate than in July, with new data showing that as of Sept. 21, the state had recorded 5,130 COVID-19 claims with August injury …

Report Shows Steep Drop in California Workers’ Comp IMRs in 1st Half Year

The number of independent medical reviews used to resolve California workers’ compensation medical disputes fell sharply in the first half of 2020 as the pandemic took a toll on the state’s economy with statewide unemployment spiking to a record level …

Study Tracks Post-Reform Trends in California Workers’ Comp Medical Service

The average number of visits for evaluation and management and physical medicine services in the California workers’ compensation system has continued to edge down since the enactment of the sweeping reform law SB 863 in 2012. However, with the adoption …