Alaska Approves 2026 Rate Filing 

• Alaska’s Division of Insurance approved a rate filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance that reduces loss costs for the voluntary market by 3.7%. 

• Loss costs for employers in the state’s assigned risk pool will decrease 4.8%.  

• The filing provides for loss adjustment expense (LAE) costs of 22.5% of losses, which is up from the 21.5% LAE rate that was used in the 2025 filing. 
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New York Appeals Court Denies Covid-19-Related Claims 

• A split New York Court of Appeals ruled 4-3 that the mental anguish and PTSD claims linked to the Covid-19 pandemic are not covered by workers’ comp.  

• The decision overturns an earlier ruling and says that the high prevalence of Covid-19 in the workplace didn’t matter because the workers – a teacher and a transit employee – hadn’t shown that their stress was extraordinarily different than what their coworkers experienced.  

• New legislation would alter the standard for proving workers’ comp post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health claims. 
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Wisconsin Updates Injury Claim System 

• Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD) says it has updated the online system for reporting injury claim data.  

• The system is used by workers’ comp insurance carriers, employers and claims adjusters to submit data to the Wisconsin Workers’ Compensation Division. 

• The new system replaces one that dated back to 2001.
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