Report: More than Half of California COVID-19 Workers’ Comp Claims in Healthcare

More than a half of all reported COVID-19 indemnity claims in California continue to arise from workers in the healthcare sector, according to a new report from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau.

The WCIRB released the information this week in a report, “COVID-19 in California Workers’ Compensation – 2022 Update.”

This report details the characteristics of COVID-19 workers’ comp claims in California and their impact on the state’s workers’ comp system.

Highlights of the report include:

• As the economy has reopened – and following the Omicron surge – COVID-19 claims continue to be a modest share of all indemnity claims.

• Over one-half of all reported COVID-19 indemnity claims continue to arise from workers in the healthcare sector.

• Accident Year 2021 COVID-19 claims are emerging as less severe than those from Accident Year 2020. This is partially due to a higher share of claims with incurred indemnity but no incurred medical loss.

The full report is available in the Research section of the WCIRB website.