Increase in 2020 comp disability could be effect of pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, and not necessarily infections, could explain the increase in temporary disability benefit duration workers compensation researchers found in 2020, the Workers Compensation Research Institute said in a report released Thursday.
Although figures for temporary disability duration was fairly stable from 2015 to 2019, 15 states saw an increase in duration ranging from 3% to 11% for non-COVID-19 claims in 2020, Ramona Tanabe, executive vice president and general counsel for WCRI, said in a statement.
“The economic slowdown during the pandemic may be a factor underlying this general pattern,” Ms. Tanabe said. “For example, the temporary increase in the unemployment rates likely affected workers’ ability to return to work and resulted in longer duration of TD benefits.”
WCRI also found that economic conditions related to the pandemic could explain a 4.5% increase in indemnity benefits per non-COVID-19 claims in 2020, according to its report.
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