Note: Workers’ Comp Advisor will take its annual summer break starting Monday, June 30, and resume daily publication on Monday, July 14. Happy Fourth of July to all of our valued subscribers!

Oregon 2023 Data Shows More Workers, Fewer Claims

• Oregon’s Workers’ Compensation Division said that its data showed that while employment in the state increased by 43,500 workers, claims decreased by 1,953 from 2022, resulting in a 2023 claims rate of 1.1 claims per 100 workers.
• A report released this week showed that private industry accounted for 87.6% of the accepted disabling claims, which totaled 20,146.
• Workers in their first year with an employer filed 42% of 2023 accepted disabling claims where the worker’s tenure is known, compared to 12.1% for those in their second year, or 7,786 and 2,781 claims, respectively.
• The most commonly injured worker occupation was transportation and material movers, accounting for about 20% of all accepted disabling claims in 2023.
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Texas ‘Maintenance Tax’ Wording Change Quadruples Max Combined Rate

• A wording change in Texas’s Insurance and Labor codes — replacing the term “maintenance tax” with “surcharge” — will boost the maximum combined assessment rate to 2.7% of gross premiums from the previous 0.6%.
• Senate Bill 1455, which passed into law in recent days, goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
• That will enable the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) and the Division of Workers’ Compensation authority to adjust annual surcharges to as high as that cap.
• Insurers will be able to recoup the surcharge by including it as an expense in rate filings or passing it directly to policyholders.
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Rhode Island Clarifies WC Court Authority in First Responder Cases

• The authority of workers’ compensation courts in Rhode Island first responder cases has been clarified with the signing this week of two companion bills by Gov. Daniel McKee.
• House Bill 6319 clarified the workers’ compensation court’s authority to determine the status of an injured-on-duty officer’s disability, the description of their injury, whether maximum medical improvement has been achieved and determine issues of suitable alternative employment, and to award attorneys’ fees and costs after a hearing when applicable to a prevailing injured employee.
• Additionally, the bill amended inconsistent language to establish conformity concerning the correct applicable deadline for filing an applicable accidental disability pension claim.
• It goes into effect on July 1, 2025.
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