NCCI: Benefit duration news may be 'harbinger of a moderation in the trend'

The average duration of payments for temporary total disability indemnity benefits might be moderating, according to research from NCCI.

The Florida-based rating and statistical organization's estimate of ultimate mean duration of TTD indemnity benefits rose to a forecasted high of 143 for injuries that occurred in 2009 but moderated to 141 days in 2010. The study looked at claims with injury dates from 1998 through the first six months of 2010 and includes an additional 12 months of data from a previous paper published last year.

"The first look at accident year 2010, as of June 2010, is a downtick from the June 2009 duration," NCCI said. "This could be a harbinger of a moderation in the trend after the steeply increasing claim durations in the late 2000s."

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The researchers noted that TTD benefit durations increased from AY 1998 to 2002, then declined over the next few accident years. The average duration of payments had been increasing since the onset of the recession in late 2007.

NCCI reviewed 1.3 million TTD and permanent partial disability claims for the study.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

May 21, 2012

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