COVID-19 Activity Report

Data-Driven Insight into COVID-19 Claim Behavior, Costs, and System Resilience:

The PCRB COVID-19 Industry Report series provides objective, data-driven insight into how the pandemic affected workers’ compensation claim activity, costs, and system performance. Drawing on both Pennsylvania-specific data and multi-bureau collaboration across dozens of jurisdictions, these reports help carriers, regulators, and policymakers understand COVID-19’s unique claim characteristics, cost drivers, and longer-term system implications. Together, they offer a clear, credible foundation for evaluating pandemic-era experience and informing future decision-making.

COVID-19 ACTIVITY REPORT

This Pennsylvania-specific report analyzes COVID-19 workers’ compensation claim activity using PCRB unit statistical, indemnity, and medical data through mid-2022. The report examines how claim patterns aligned with statewide infection trends, how COVID-19 claims differed from non-COVID-19 claims, and how benefit duration, medical utilization, and industry exposure evolved over time. The findings provide Pennsylvania stakeholders with a data-driven view of COVID-19’s localized impact on the workers’ compensation system.

What’s in the report

• Pennsylvania COVID-19 claim activity closely tracked statewide infection waves throughout the pandemic.
• Most COVID-19 claims were indemnity-only and short in duration, reflecting quarantine-related wage replacement.
• COVID-19 lost-time claims were generally less severe than non-COVID-19 claims, particularly once closed.

COVID-19 INSIGHTS PHASE II

This Pennsylvania-specific report analyzes COVID-19 workers’ compensation claim activity using PCRB unit statistical, indemnity, and medical data through mid-2022. The report examines how claim patterns aligned with statewide infection trends, how COVID-19 claims differed from non-COVID-19 claims, and how benefit duration, medical utilization, and industry exposure evolved over time. The findings provide Pennsylvania stakeholders with a data-driven view of COVID-19’s localized impact on the workers’ compensation system.

What’s in the report

• COVID-19 claim counts and losses declined substantially in 2021 compared to 2020.
• Average COVID-19 claim severity decreased as indemnity-only claims made up a larger share of reported experience.
• Lost-time severity for non-COVID-19 claims remained relatively stable, indicating limited indirect pandemic impact.

COVID-19 INSIGHTS

This report presents the first comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional analysis of COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims, developed through collaboration among PCRB, NCCI, and multiple state rating bureaus. Drawing on data from 45 jurisdictions, the study examines how pandemic-related claims differed from traditional workers’ compensation experience, with a focus on claim frequency, severity, closure patterns, and industry impacts. The findings provide valuable context for understanding how the system responded to an unprecedented public health event and where uncertainty remained as claims matured.

• COVID-19 claims accounted for a notable share of claim counts but a much smaller share of total incurred losses.
• Indemnity-only claims were a defining feature of pandemic experience and drove lower overall claim severity.
• COVID-19 claims generally closed faster than non-COVID-19 claims, though paid-to-paid+case ratios indicated greater uncertainty.