This is the first WCRI annual report on the Delaware workers’ compensation system. It contains metrics for evaluating the results of Delaware’s 2014 system reforms, mostly related to the medical payment system. Policymakers and stakeholders will be able to use these data and analyses to inform policy debates, track the progress of enacted changes, and evaluate the results of system changes.

The study examines total claim costs, medical payments, indemnity benefits, disability duration, benefit delivery expenses, timeliness of benefit payments to workers, and other metrics. It analyzes how these metrics of system performance have changed over time from 2014 to 2019 (at various claim maturities) with payments made through March 2020.

Findings from other WCRI studies are included to provide a more complete picture of the Delaware system and to supply historical context for key metrics. The report includes experience on claims through March 2020, at the very beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, so it provides a pre-COVID-19 baseline for evaluating the impact of the virus on workers’ compensation claims.

An Overview of the Delaware Workers’ Compensation System and the Effects of the 2014 Reforms. Evelina Radeva. November 2021. WC-21-43.

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