This study helps policymakers and other system stakeholders in Virginia identify current cost drivers and emerging trends in total costs per claim and key components. It also helps them monitor the ongoing impact of the medical fee schedule implemented on January 1, 2018.

It compares the performance of the Virginia workers’ compensation system with 17 other states, focusing on overall medical payments, income benefits, use of benefits, duration of temporary disability, benefit delivery expenses, timeliness of payments, and other metrics.

Additionally, the study examines how these system performance metrics have changed, mainly from 2018 to 2023, for claims at various claim maturities. Claims with experience through 2024 for injuries up to and including 2023 were analyzed, and, in some cases, a longer time frame was used to supply historical context. Information from other studies was also used to provide a more complete picture of the system.

The results reflect claims experience through March 2024, including non-COVID-19 claims. As a result, the study provides a detailed look at how the pandemic-related disruptions affected non-COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims in the early pandemic years (2019–2021) and more recently (2021–2023).

CompScope™ Benchmarks for Virginia, 2025 Edition. Bogdan Savych. April 2025. WC-25-15.