In this special data and rankings issue of Business Insurance, we bring you our proprietary rankings from the past year plus other industry data to present a numerical overview of the commercial insurance market, from retail brokers to reinsurers and wholesalers to captive managers.
In this special data and rankings issue of Business Insurance, we bring you our proprietary rankings from the past year plus other industry data to present a numerical overview of the commercial insurance market, from retail brokers to reinsurers and wholesalers to captive managers.
Tragic incidents at work, including employee shootings, often result in workers compensation claims.
Earlier this year, the claim of an Orlando rental car company employee who was approved for workers compensation benefits after being shot while walking between his desk in a hotel and an office in a neighboring building was ultimately denied after a long court battle.
Mohammed Bouayad failed to prove his gunshot injuries arose out of his employment, a Florida District Court of Appeal panel ruled in August, simultaneously asking the Florida Supreme Court to rule on whether injuries caused by third-party individuals entitle an employee to workers comp benefits if the injury occurs while the claimant is at their workplace.
The story about the appeals court ruling was the most-read workers compensation-related story on Business Insurance’s website in 2023.
Mr. Bouayad’s employer, Value Car Rental LLC, had appealed a workers comp judge’s decision permitting benefits, arguing evidence in the case had pointed to a possible personal reason behind the attack. The appellate panel agreed, and in October denied a request to have the full court revisit the case.
The state high court action is still pending.
The case wasn’t the only one in 2023 that dealt with workplace shootings. In November, the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board ruled that a court prematurely decided in favor of an employer that challenged workers comp benefits for an employee injured during a workplace discussion over a private gun sale on the premises.
Also in November, a Virginia judge ruled that a former elementary school teacher could move forward with her $40 million lawsuit over injuries she suffered after being shot by a 6-year-old student in the classroom.
In another Virginia ruling favoring an employee, a judge ruled that the case of a Walmart worker who sued the retailer for $50 million after being shot at by a coworker could proceed outside of workers comp.
The controversial trend of tacking on automatic tips to customer bills has attracted a lot of attention among the general public over the past couple of years, and in 2023 it also caught the eye of workers compensation officials.
In June, the National Council on Compensation Insurance filed changes to its manual on premium calculations to include the nondiscretionary tips. The move could raise costs for employers in NCCI states.
A story on experts’ reaction the change was the second-most-read workers compensation-related story on the Business Insurance website in 2023.
Despite the unpopularity among consumers, automatic gratuities have grown in recent years, with restaurant bills offering such explanations as “wellness fees,” “kitchen love” and “administration.”
Experts said the calculation change by the NCCI was in line with how the Internal Revenue Service looks at tips when calculating payroll. The IRS is also considering a change regarding who needs to report tips, which could be a driving force for mandatory fees attached to consumer bills.
When the chief claims officer of Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.’s Global Risk Solutions business left the company in October, it prompted several leadership changes on the workers compensation side of the insurer’s business.
Among the changes, Liberty Mutual announced in November that it had named Douglas Anderson leader of workers compensation claims for Global Risk Solutions North America.
Mr. Anderson most recently was head of Global Risk Solutions North America, Central region, workers compensation, and has worked for Liberty Mutual for more than 36 years.
The story on Mr. Anderson’s promotion at Liberty Mutual was the third-most-read workers compensation-related story on the Business Insurance website in 2023.
The move followed the promotion of Virna Alexander, who earlier had been named Liberty Mutual’s chief claims officer of Global Risk Solutions North America. In 2020, Ms. Alexander was named among the Business Insurance Women to Watch.
Ms. Alexander replaced Steve Deane, who had rejoined The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. as chief claims officer in October. Prior to joining Liberty Mutual in 2020, Mr. Deane had spent more than 16 years at The Hartford.
Artificial intelligence has been billed as a technology that makes jobs easier and more efficient, and many experts in the workers compensation sector in 2023 appeared convinced that AI is already improving the claims management process.
Claims professionals this year touted technologies such as AI and machine learning as helping to improve outcomes and detect fraud.
While the insurance industry has traditionally lagged in technology deployment and utilization, experts say AI is helping to change that trajectory.
A story examining the use of AI technology as a tool in workers comp claims was the fourth-most-read workers comp-related story on Business Insurance’s website in 2023.
A survey of claims executives highlighted the benefits of AI in improving injured worker care and reducing litigated claims.
Experts also reported that AI implementation has led to a reduction in lost-time claims, which can result in a savings of millions of dollars a year for insurers.
Automation technologies that have been used in the claims process have also helped to free up professionals who previously spent many hours on mundane tasks, according to experts, enabling them to focus on other tasks.
It has been a difficult year for food processing companies, as one employer was faulted for failing to evacuate workers from a manufacturing plant before a deadly explosion and others were cited by federal workplace safety regulators for serious injuries.
In the failure to evacuate case, an R.M. Palmer Co. facility in West Reading, Pennsylvania, was issued a citation and proposed fines by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration after seven workers were killed in late March in an explosion caused by a natural gas leak.
The report on fatalities at the candymaker was the fifth-most-read workers comp-related story on Business Insurance’s website in 2023.
Another worker death in late 2022 led to a large penalty against a specialty frozen pizza manufacturer. OSHA cited Gurnee, Illinois-based Miracapo Pizza Co. for 16 willful egregious violations. The employee had been cleaning a spiral conveyor used to cool pizza when her head was caught in the machinery.
OSHA proposed penalties of $2.8 million following the workplace death.
The company has since contested the citation and the appeal is pending.
OSHA cited several food companies this year over workplace amputations, including a $1.9 million proposed penalty against Cincinnati-based Zwanenberg Food Group USA, which is one of the largest food processors in the country.
The company was cited following an October 2022 incident in which a worker fell into an industrial blender. The temporary worker was attempting to sanitize equipment at the time of the incident.
Zwanenberg was again cited this month after a temporary worker’s finger amputation in June.
While many of the effects of long COVID remain a medical mystery, data from the workers compensation industry provided some clarity on how the condition, deemed a disability by the federal government, will affect claims activity.
In a study released in August the Workers Compensation Research Institute found that 6% of workers with comp claims for COVID-19 developed long COVID.
At an average of 18 months of post-infection experience, these workers received more than 20 weeks of temporary disability benefits and an average of $29,000 in medical care, 10 times that which was spent on workers who were not treated for long-term health issues.
The story detailing the findings was the sixth-most-read workers compensation-related story on the Business Insurance website in 2023.
Other reports on the effect of the pandemic on the comp sector also drew attention.
In California, researchers for the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California reported in June that 13% of California workers compensation claims for COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021 included medical treatment for long COVID.
That report also showed that the risks of long COVID are higher in female workers, workers over 50 years of age and workers who have comorbidities, and that comp claims that involve treatment for long COVID symptoms are four times more likely to result in permanent disability benefits.
On the medical front, researchers said they may have found some biomarkers for long COVID.
Experts in June narrowed long COVID down to several specific symptoms, although they maintained that the disease is anything but clear and remains difficult to treat.
While commercial insurance buyers have been hit by rate increases in numerous lines over the past five years, workers compensation coverage has remained remarkably stable by comparison.
That trend continued in 2023 with average rates for comp coverage wavering between small decreases and tiny increases.
A story about the continued profitability of the workers comp market for insurers and favorable conditions for buyers was the seventh-most-read workers comp-related story on the Business Insurance website in 2023.
The rate environment for workers comp both began and ended the year with small decreases, according to the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers widely read quarterly pricing reports. Other surveys during the year showed comp rates flat or slightly higher, as the line moved up and down within a narrow band for most of 2023.
While other property/casualty lines are forecast to continue to see rate increases of different sizes, workers comp rates are expected to continue to occupy a similar narrow band, with some sources seeing small rate reductions in 2024.
