Florida sees steep decline in COVID-19 comp claims

Florida workers compensation payers saw 1,019 COVID-19 claims in February, down from 3,816 reported in January and 4,327 reported in December 2020, according to figures released Monday by the Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation.

February’s claims data only includes those with an indemnity component — meaning, in addition to medical costs the workers included in the report collected income-replacement benefits.

Overall, 43.9% of indemnity claims paid in the first two months of 2021 were for COVID-19 infections, up from the 32.2% reported for the entire year of 2020. Total benefits, medical plus indemnity, paid in the first two months of 2021 stood at $2.6 million. In 2020, comp payers paid a total of $71.6 million in COVID-19 claims, according to the report.

Since the beginning of the pandemic to Feb. 28, 37,966 COVID-19 claims were accepted, with 36,024 of them costing less than $4,999 totaling $25 million. A total of 11 claims cost more than $500,000 each, with insurers paying a total of $10.9 million for the most expensive claims, according to the report.

More insurance and workers compensation news on the coronavirus crisis here.