Legislators across the US continued to debate COVID-19 workers’ compensation-related topics during the first half of the year, according to the 2022 Regulatory and Legislative Trends Report released by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). Several states discussed whether to extend or sunset COVID-19 workers’ compensation presumptions or enact new presumptions, while some considered proposals focused on COVID-19 vaccinations and workers’ compensation.
So far in 2022, NCCI has tracked more than 800 state and federal bills. While COVID-19 legislation has remained a priority, legislative activity on other workers’ compensation issues included workplace-related mental injuries, marijuana legalization and reimbursement, single-payer health insurance, and whether to classify gig workers as employees or independent contractors.
NCCI also tracked more than 200 workers’ compensation-related regulations. Similar to previous years, medical cost containment was the top theme of the regulations adopted, including medical fee schedules and treatment guidelines. Several of the other adopted regulations addressed claims reporting requirements, surcharges and assessments, NCCI said.
“For nearly 100 years, NCCI has been the trusted source for workers’ compensation information,” said Bill Donnell, president and CEO of NCCI. “We produce comprehensive reports like these to help stakeholders navigate through complex issues that shape the regulatory and legislative landscape.”
The body has also launched two new dashboards for this year’s trend report:
“We’re extremely pleased to introduce a refreshed format and new interactive dashboards to enhance how our stakeholders visualize information,” said Laura Kersey, report author and NCCI division executive for regulatory and legislative analysis.
The report is available on NCCI’s website.
