This study continues to monitor the impact of comprehensive reform legislation enacted in 2013, Senate Bill (SB) 863. The policy goals of this legislation were to increase permanent disability benefits for injured workers and to create cost savings and improve the efficiency of the workers’ compensation process where possible. SB 863 includes various provisions with different effective dates that affect indemnity benefits, medical payments, and benefit delivery expenses in the California workers’ compensation system. The data covered in this report include claims arising during the 33 months after SB 863 became effective, with up to 51 months of experience post-reform. This report discusses the collective impact of the SB 863 provisions on total costs per claim and their key components in California.

This study helps policymakers and other system stakeholders compare the performance of the California workers’ compensation system with 17 other states, focusing on costs, income benefits, overall medical payments, use of benefits, duration of temporary disability, frequency and payments of permanent partial disability/lump-sum claims, benefit delivery expenses, litigiousness, timeliness of payment, and other metrics. It also examines how these system performance metrics have changed, primarily from 2011 to 2016, for claims at various claim maturities. Claims with experience through 2017 for injuries up to and including 2016 were analyzed, and, in some cases, a longer time frame was used to supply historical context.

CompScope™ Benchmarks for California, 18th Edition. Rui Yang. April 2018. WC-18-01.