Friday, June 4, 2021 | 0
The Texas Department of Workers’ Compensation recorded a 34% increase in total employee benefit entitlements in 2020 compared to 2019, with the rise in COVID-19 claims temporarily disrupting the state’s 20-year trend in year-over-year declines in compensation claims This emerges from a report published by the ministry on Wednesday.
Between January 1, 2020 and May 9, 2021, insurers in the state reported more than 48,000 COVID-19 claims and more than 250 deaths, with insurers accepting nearly half of all claims with a positive COVID-19 test.
Of the claims submitted, nearly half were related to first responders and law enforcement officers, and just over half of the claims were processed by the State of Texas and insurer subdivisions.
The majority of COVID-19 benefits paid were compensation, with insurers and employers receiving $ 24.1 million in death benefit and approximately $ 120,000 in funeral benefits as of March 31, 2021.
For medical claims, insurers and employers paid $ 17.3 million in medical expenses through April 22, 2021, with just over a quarter paid by commercial insurers.
Insurers and employers have also paid for a small number of adverse vaccine reaction-related claims filed primarily by healthcare workers and first responders. As of May 2021, insurers reported 448 COVID-19 response claims, of which only about 10% have so far been rejected.
Business Insurance is a sister publication of WorkCompCentral. More stories can be found here.
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