New York Workers Compensation Trends June 2015 Oliver Wyman
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How have New York cost levels changed since 2007? Pre 2007 2007 Legislation Developments Since 2007 Permanent partial disability claim costs were accelerating Second Injury Fund costs were accelerating Maximum benefit constant at $400 per week since early 1990s Duration caps imposed for permanent partial disability claims Second injury fund was closed Maximum benefit was increased to 2/3 of state average weekly wage $808.65 as of July 1, 2014 Expected to decrease costs by approximately 20% Rather than decreasing, workers compensation costs in NY increased and are currently greater than pre-2007 levels Additional legislation closed reopened claim fund in 2014 NY currently has 2 nd highest average workers compensation costs in US Average cost of benefits and legal expense per $100 payroll 15 most costly states Average cost per $100 payroll 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 CA NY NJ CT DE MT AK NH IL VT OK MN LA RI WI PA State Costs are Measured using the same distribution of employee classifications across all states Based on the most recently available information for the individual states
Impact on Permanent Partial Disability Claims New York Claim Frequency Per 100,000 workers Policy year Total lost time Permanent partial PP% 2001 1,219 494 41% 2002 1142 456 40% 2003 1108 440 40% 2004 1030 419 41% 2005 988 416 42% 2006 953 425 45% 2007 939 451 48% 2008 927 489 53% 2009 926 509 55% 2010 943 537 57% 2011 941 552 59% Permanent Partial Average Claim Costs New York versus Countrywide Policy year New York Countrywide Countrywide Claim Frequency Per 100,000 workers Policy year Total lost time Permanent partial PP% 2001 1,275 430 34% 2002 1,218 422 35% 2003 1,179 423 36% 2004 1,124 404 36% 2005 1,075 384 36% 2006 1,041 382 37% 2007 996 378 38% 2008 925 369 40% 2009 882 361 41% 2010 874 344 39% 2011 866 329 38% NY to Countrywide relativity 2001 $90,719 $71,258 1.27 2002 $97,505 $68,136 1.43 2003 $103,666 $70,059 1.48 2004 $107,142 $67,170 1.60 2005 $113,457 $69,772 1.63 2006 $114,395 $71,695 1.60 2007 $117,061 $75,212 1.56 2008 $118,992 $76,000 1.57 2009 $121,506 $76,507 1.59 2010 $128,718 $76,411 1.68 2011 $134,352 $77,693 1.73 NY lost time claims have been stable since 2007, while lost time claim frequency continued to decline countrywide NY permanent partial claim frequency increased since 2007, both in absolute value and as a percentage of lost time claims Countrywide permanent partial claim frequency decreased at same rate as total lost time claims and remained constant as a percentage of lost time claims Permanent partial claim costs increased marginally from 2001 to 2011 on a countrywide basis In New York, permanent partial claim costs increased materially from 2001 to 2006 After the 2007 legislation, rather than decreasing or stabilizing, permanent partial claim costs continued to increase
Impact on Lost Time Claim Severity Average Lost Time Claim Cost in New York Medical, indemnity, claim related expense, assessments $150,000 $140,000 $130,000 $120,000 $110,000 $100,000 $90,000 $80,000 $70,000 $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 $0 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Policy year 2014 and 2015 assessments are 15-8 only All other years include 15-8 and 25-A Based on reported data from NYCIRB 2007 law change Indemnity Medical Claim related expense Assessments Forecast Lost time claim costs had been increasing since 2001. After the 2007 legislation, however, rather than decreasing, costs accelerated and increased at a faster rate. Claim costs have accelerated since 2007 for the following reasons: Permanent partial disability claim costs increased materially since 2007 Time spent on temporary total disability does not count towards the capped duration. As a result, attorneys are acting to delay the disability rating Time spent on temporary total disability increased from 4.8 years to 6.4 years after the legislation. This equates to an additional $50,000 in claim costs for an individual receiving $600 per week Permanent partial disability claims, as a percentage of total claims, increased materially since 2007 Relatively expensive permanent partial claims make up a larger portion of total claims than they did prior to 2007 Assessments to fund the second injury fund and the reopened claim fund increased materially since 2007 While closed to new claims, there is a significant annual cost of running these funds until all claims are closed. This is expected to take 40+ yrs, because many claims are lifetime permanent partial claims from pre-2007