Delaware’s Workers’ Compensation Claims Cost Grew 3% a Year: WCRI

The average cost of workers’ compensation claims in Delaware, for cases with more than seven days of lost work, went up by 3% per year between 2019 and 2022, according to a new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).

“In the years following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were important changes in the labor market as well as shifts in the availability of medical services. These changes were likely important drivers of the trends in total costs per claim in Delaware,” said Ramona Tanabe, president and CEO of WCRI, in announcing the research.

The study, Trends in the Delaware Workers’ Compensation System, 2017–2022, examines total claim costs, medical payments, indemnity benefits, disability duration, benefit delivery expenses and how these and other key factors have evolved from 2017 to 2022.

According to WCRI, key findings include:

• Temporary disability duration and wages for injured workers have both increased since 2019, driven by pandemic-related economic changes.
• Medical payments per claim remained relatively stable, with reduced utilization balancing stable prices for professional services.
• Benefit delivery expenses per claim increased after 2019, following a decline in previous years.

The report excludes COVID-19 claims and includes findings from other WCRI studies for a broader context.

Source: The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is an independent, not-for-profit research organization.