At the WCRI Annual Conference, a panel discussed the labor shortage’s impact on their organizations. The panel was: John Ruser – WCRI (moderator) Ann Marie Watkins – Kaiser Permanente Steve Perroots – Marriott International Vance Ayers – International Union of Elevator Constructors Joan Vincenz – United Airlines Airline One of the big lessons from this […]

At the 2023 WCRI Annual Conference, Dongchun Wang from WCRI presented a study on the extended use of physical medicine (PM) to treat low back pain. Physical medicine includes therapeutic activities done by a physical therapist. This can range from active movement to the use of electrical stimulation. This study focused on claims involving lower […]

At the 2023 WCRI Annual conference, Jill Leonard from Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation (LWCC) and Jeff Rush from California JPIA discussed the impact that severe weather events have on workers compensation. Hurricanes Employer/Employee challenges following hurricanes: Road closures. Extended power outages. Water outages or advisories. Limited access to workplace and utilities. Clean up often required […]

At the 2023 WCRI Annual Conference, Dr. Olesya Formenko from WCRI talked about how medical inflation impacts workers’ compensation. Growth in the Consumer Price Index from 2020 to 2022 was much higher than in previous years, averaging 6.4%. The average growth in the eight years prior to that was 1.6%. The price increases seen in […]

At the 2023 WCRI Annual Conference, internationally recognized MIT Economist David Autor opened the event talking about globalization and automation and their impact on jobs, the nature of work, and state workers’ compensation systems. Where will the future of work come from? 1. Insatiability People always want more “stuff.” The more people earn, the more […]