Total workers compensation insurer combined losses and expenses incurred in 2017 were $16.2 billion, or 91% of calendar year premium, compared with $16.9 billion, or 94% of calendar year premium, in 2016, the Oakland, California-based Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau released in its annual report Tuesday.
The report also found that medical losses paid in 2017 were $4.7 billion, or 56% of total loss payments. Of these payments, $1.3 billion were paid for physician services, $1.3 billion were payments made directly to injured workers, $700 million were paid for inpatient or outpatient services, $200 million were paid for pharmaceuticals, and $300 million were paid for medical-legal evaluations, according to a post on WCIRB’s website.
The ratings agency also reported:
Utilization of Schedule II opioids in California workers compensation claims has grown steadily in the last decade, along with payments for such medications in comp claims, according to the California Workers Compensation Institute.