NCCI Releases First Look At Long COVID in Workers Compensation

WorkersCompensation.com
Full article on WorkersCompensation.com

What
This is the first in-depth report of the impact of long COVID on injured workers and the workers compensation (WC) system.

Key insights

• 24 percent of WC COVID patients experienced long COVID. (page 9)
• 47 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 WC patients developed long COVID. 20 percent of nonhospitalized WC patients developed long COVID. (Page 9)
• Pulmonary and cardiovascular symptoms were the most common for long COVID WC patients. (Pages 10-13)
• Nearly one-third of long COVID WC claims were for workers ages 51-60. (Page 5)
• Women and healthcare workers experienced long COVID the most. (Pages 6-7)
• The average cost of a hospitalized worker who developed long COVID is $216,000, more than five times the average for nonhospitalized workers with long COVID. (Page 18)

Where the data comes from
NCCI’s Indemnity Data Call is new, while the Medical Data Call is just a little over a decade old. These data sources are providing NCCI with greater means to research impactful forces affecting the WC system.

Why it matters
This is the first research to outline data and trends in long COVID for those covered by workers compensation.

Report background
The study covers COVID-19 WC claims with accident dates between the first quarter of 2020 and June 2021 and medical services provided through March 2022. It includes 7,651 COVID-19 claims with payments of more than $120 million.

This study builds on previous work by NCCI released in October 2021, COVID-19 and The New Reality – Prolonged COVID.

Who
NCCI Experts, Robert J. Moss and Nedžad Arnautović and Dr. Michael Choo at Paradigm.

For more information
If you would like to learn more about the Long COVID in Workers Compensation, or schedule an interview with one of our experts, please contact: Cristine Pike, Director, Public Relations and Communications at NCCI.