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Workers' Compensation

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RAND Turns 75: A Look Through the Decades At World-Changing Research
From anticipating the Space Age in the 1940s to studying gun policy and COVID-19 responses in the 2020s, RAND is celebrating 75 years of research that has made a difference.
May 8, 2023
Journal Article
The Quality of Occupational Healthcare for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Healthcare Expenditures, and Disability Outcomes: A Prospective Observational Study
We sought to examine whether quality of care for work-associated carpal tunnel syndrome is associated with healthcare expenditures or disability. Quality of care was associated with health care expenditures, but not with disability.
Nov 18, 2022
Journal Article
Do Temporary Workers Experience Additional Employment and Earnings Risk After Workplace Injuries?
We find large and persistent earnings and employment losses after workplace injury for temporary workers over and above losses for direct-hire workers at the same job. Workers' compensation benefits reduce, but do not eliminate, this income loss.
Oct 19, 2022
Journal Article
The Demand for Insurance and Rationale for a Mandate: Evidence from Workers' Compensation Insurance
Workers' compensation insurance is mandatory in nearly all states. We use data from a unique market without a coverage mandate to estimate the demand for workers' comp insurance. Our analysis suggests that several forms of market failure may not justify a mandate.
Sep 23, 2022
Journal Article
Explaining Heterogeneity in Use of Non-wage Benefits: The Role of Worker and Firm Characteristics in Disability Accommodations
Using administrative data in Oregon, we document significant dispersion in accommodation rates across workers and firms. We decompose the variance in accommodation use, finding that firm characteristics explain 29% of this variance.
Aug 24, 2022
Research Brief
COVID-19's Impacts on California's Workers' Compensation System: Evaluating the Effects of Senate Bill 1159
The authors evaluated the effects of COVID-19 claims on the California workers' compensation system and on the payment of workers' compensation benefits, noting patterns created by the presumptions established by Senate Bill 1159.
May 26, 2022
Journal Article
Worker and Employer Experiences with COVID-19 and the California Workers' Compensation System: A Review of the Literature
We conducted a literature review on worker and employer experiences surrounding COVID-19 and worker's compensation, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
Feb 4, 2022
Report
Earnings Losses and Benefit Adequacy in California's Workers' Compensation System: Estimates for 2005–2017 Injury Dates
This final report in a series is part of an effort to monitor wage losses of injured workers in the California workers' compensation system between 2013 and 2017. It updates estimates of trends in earnings losses reported in the interim reports.
Feb 3, 2022
Report
Workers' Compensation and COVID-19
As the pandemic continues, states vary on whether or how to allow workers to seek compensation for a COVID-19 diagnosis. It's too early to know the full costs, effects, and efficacy of these efforts, but now is a good time for policymakers to consider all the arguments for and against coverage.
Jan 11, 2022
Report
COVID-19 in the California Workers' Compensation System: A Study of COVID-19 Claims and Presumptions Under Senate Bill 1159
The authors evaluate the effects of COVID-19 claims on the California workers' compensation system and on the payment of workers' compensation benefits, noting patterns by industry, occupation, and the presumptions established by Senate Bill 1159.
Dec 29, 2021
Research Brief
First Responder Claims for PTSD in Workers' Compensation: Assessing the Effects of Senate Bill 542 in California
Under California's Senate Bill 542, which creates a legal presumption that posttraumatic stress disorder in firefighters and peace officers is a work-related injury, additional costs to state and local governments could be large but are uncertain.
Sep 20, 2021
Report
Posttraumatic Stress in California's Workers' Compensation System: A Study of Mental Health Presumptions for Firefighters and Peace Officers Under Senate Bill 542
The authors evaluate the prevalence of mental health conditions among first responders in California and discuss policy implications, with a focus on how posttraumatic stress disorder is handled in the state's workers' compensation system.
Sep 20, 2021
Journal Article
Does Marijuana Legalization Affect Work Capacity? Evidence from Workers' Compensation Benefits
We study the effect of state recreational marijuana laws on workers' compensation benefit receipt among adults 40–62 years old.
Mar 23, 2021
Report
Evaluation of California Senate Bill 863 Medical Care Reforms
This report uses data from the California Worker's Compensation Information System and interactions with subject-matter experts to evaluate the impact of Senate Bill 863 on medical care utilization and spending for injured workers in California.
Sep 28, 2020
Commentary
Can Workers' Compensation Help Businesses Reopen More Safely?
Workers' compensation typically does not cover common infectious diseases like COVID-19. But in the fight against the pandemic, state policymakers might take a fresh look at aspects of labor and business regulation that usually fade into the background and ask if modest changes hold any potential to reduce disease transmission.
Sep 9, 2020
Commentary
Should COVID-19 Be Covered by Workers' Compensation?
Expanding workers' compensation coverage for COVID-19 could be part of a broader response to ensuring an efficient economic recovery from the pandemic. What are the potential benefits and drawbacks?
Aug 31, 2020
Report
Wage Loss Monitoring for Injured Workers in California's Workers' Compensation System: 2016–2017 Injury Year Findings (Third Interim Report)
The authors present new estimates of wage loss for California's injured workers in 2016-2017 and compare these estimates with trends before, during, and after the Great Recession.
Feb 5, 2020
Report
The Frequency and Economic Impact of Musculoskeletal Disorders for California Firefighters: Trends and Outcomes over the Past Decade
The authors update analyses from a 2010 study on firefighters in California and consider the impacts of the 2013 workers' compensation reforms and the economic shocks of the late 2000s on outcomes for firefighters with musculoskeletal disorders.
Jan 31, 2020
Journal Article
The Impact of Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose Threshold Guidelines on Prescribed Dose in a Workers' Compensation Population
Passage of morphine equivalent daily dose guidelines was associated with significant decreases in high dose opioid prescribing among workers' compensation claimants with chronic non-cancer related pain.
Jan 31, 2020
Report
Who Settles in Workers' Compensation?
The process of determining appropriate workers' compensation benefits can be costly and complicated. Changes in permanent disability benefits in Oregon provide a case study on the relationship between the expected value of the benefit and the probability of settlement.
Dec 23, 2019

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RAND Topic:
Workers' Compensation

Topic Synonyms:
Workers Comp

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Denise D. Quigley

Senior Policy Researcher

Denise D. Quigley is a senior health policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, professor at Pardee RAND Graduate School, and quality improvement (QI) team lead for the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) project. Her research focuses on factors influencing health…
Stephanie Rennane

Economist

Stephanie Rennane (she/her) is an economist at the RAND Corporation. As an applied microeconomist, her research interests fall at the intersection of labor and health economics and she has particular expertise in the area of disability policy and related health and social insurance programs.…

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