WorkCompNews

NA Workplace homicide is stable, NA- Rates are decreasing, NA - increased need for mental health professionals Workplace homicide rates stay flat as national murders rise 35% - Beinsure "homicides showed year-to-year volatility, but no sustained upward or downward trend" Commercial P&C Market Shifts Into Reverse as Soft Market Takes Hold - Risk & Insurance "Average premiums across all account sizes fell in Q1 2026 for the first time since 2017" ICA suggests cure for mental strain on workers' comp - Insurance News "Investments in early intervention programs and government action to tackle a shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists are also recommended"

CA - violence in long-term care, RI - cybersecurity in the news, NM - EMTs and others exposed to fentanyl at work Violence spurs 1 in 5 SNF workers' comp claims in CA - McKnight's Long-Term Care News "About 18% of workers’ compensation claims made by skilled nursing facility staff between 2013 and 2021 were related to violence" Class action lawsuit filed against RI's largest workers' comp insurer - MSN "after a company mailing notified 132,000 Rhode Islanders that their personal information had been compromised" 18 EMTs Treated for Exposure to Unknown Substance that Left 3 Others Dead WorkersCompensation.com "EMTs responding to a call in New Mexico were taken to the hospital for treatment after they fell ill from exposure to an unknown substance"

TN - sharp line for out-of-state claims, CA medical reviews increase, NA - AI is happening now.  Nail gun injury appeal sharpens panel-of-physicians rules for workers' comp carriers "Tennessee just drew a sharp line on physical therapists and out-of-state claims" California comp medical reviews rise in 2025 - Business Insurance "Pharmaceuticals remained the largest category of disputed treatment requests, accounting for 30.6% of all issues submitted for review" Workers' Comp and Auto Claims Face a Turning Point: AI, Faster Care ... - Risk & Insurance "AI is no longer a future promise but a present force reshaping claims"

NA- study of risk tiers, NC- fear of fakes and fraudsters, CA - cost of migraine drugs driving concern 15-Year Study Identifying Three Risk Tiers in Small Business Insurance Pricing "The study groups small businesses into easy-to-place, medium-risk and hard-to-place categories based on carrier appetite, claim severity and historical loss ratios." NC Commission Warns About Workers' Comp Scam Impersonating Officials "fraud scheme targeting workers’ compensation claimants across multiple states through the use of official-looking communications and fake hearings.” CWCI: Migraine Drugs Are Now the Third Most Expensive California Workers' Comp Drug "as the use of new, high-cost Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) targeted medications increases"

MD Highway injuries and safety demands, NA the knowledge gap in comp, IA the supreme court rewrites the impairment calculation. Union Leaders Demand Action after 2 Workers Killed Within Days of Each Other "two Maryland highway workers were killed in separate incidents just days apart." A Troubling Knowledge Gap: Overcoming Unfamiliarity with Workers' Comp - Risk & Insurance "Unfamiliarity with workers’ comp is one of the biggest barriers to recovery for injured worker patients." Iowa Supreme Court rewrites how shoulder injury claims get calculated "The commissioner, Mansfield concluded, was wrong to apply the Table 16-18 multiplier to a distal clavicle excision under Table 16-27."

CA Higher combined ratios, CA Kitchen counter silicosis, TN Suspension, NA Workplace safety methods  WCIRB: California Comp Written Premiums 'Relatively Stable' Compared to Pandemic "The combined ratio rose 3 points in 2025 to its highest level in over 20 years" California Stoneworkers With Silicosis Struggle to Get Workers' Comp | KQED "California countertop workers diagnosed with silicosis from engineered stone" Tennessee judge backs employer that suspended workers' comp benefits over missed appointments "A missed deposition was the last straw" Workplace Safety Progress Has Stalled. Here's What Employers Can Do About It. "One of the central issues driving unchanged fatality numbers is that most companies still rely on backward-looking metrics" These are news stories worthy of consideration, discussion, and are subject to interpretation. No endorsement or agreement is implied or expressed by inclusion here. 

NA Workers comp profitable, NA Hospital closure impacts, MN Course and scope Workers' Compensation Remains Profitable as Premium Dips and Severity Climbs "workers' compensation delivered a 91% combined ratio in 2025" WCRI: Hospital closures prolong recovery, increase costs for injured workers "influences injured workers' ability to obtain medical treatment , how quickly they recover," Was Clerk Injured Returning to In-person Work Entitled to Benefits? "Even when an employee is not on the clock and nowhere near the office when she's injured, she may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits."