Florida COVID claims increase in December
Although the number of claims for COVID-19 more than tripled from November to December, the total number of claims was less than half the average number of claims filed per month in 2021 and well below the August peak, according to a report released Friday by the Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation.
The DWC reports 918 claims for COVID-19 were filed in December compared with 296 in November. The total 26,027 claims filed last year results in an average of 2,167 claims per month.
The average monthly claim count for 2021 is influenced by a peak of 7,101 claims filed in August, the 4,799 claims filed in July and the 4,195 claims filed in January, according to the report.
Average claims per month were also down in 2021 compared with the average of 2,898 COVID-19 claims per month that were filed in 2020. A total of 60,803 claims for COVID-19 were filed since January 2020. The DWC’s report identifies 11,439 open claims with $105.8 million in paid benefits and 49,364 closed claims with $72.2 million in paid benefits.
The majority of claims — 57,244, or 94.1% — involved paid benefits of $4,999 or less. Thirty-three claims involved payments of $500,000 or more. The division reports that 149 claims were partially denied and 27,963 were totally denied.
WorkCompCentral is a sister publication of Business Insurance. More stories here.
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