NCCI WC Medical Price Index Softens in Q1

• NCCI’s first-quarter 2025 Medical Inflation Insights report shows that medical prices measured by its workers’ compensation gauge showed a noticeable softening, fueled by a combination of several trends.
• The quarter began with smaller-than-previous-year physician care price changes for Medicare and Medicaid patients, leading to slower year-over-year growth in prices for the largest area of WC spend.
• Price trend growth continued to soften, with prices for both hospital inpatient services and hospital outpatient services remaining below recent averages.
• NCCI said trade levies will directly hit workers compensation by raising prices on medical equipment and supplies and medicinal drugs.
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Travelers Maintains Top Spot in NAIC Market Share Report

• Travelers Group remained atop the rankings of workers’ compensation carriers in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners latest annual Market Share Data Report.
• Travelers’ direct premiums written decreased to $3.83 billion in 2024 from from $3.87 billion in 2023. Its loss to EP ratio also rose from 43.01% to 39.88%.
• The Hartford Fire & Casualty Group remained the second-largest carrier but saw a decline in direct premiums written from $3.77 billion to $3.70 billion.
• Number three-ranked AmTrust Financial Services saw premiums drop from $3.43 billion to $3.37 billion.
• Those top three firms held a combined market share of almost 39%.
• The overall direct loss to EP ratio for the industry increased from 44.88% in 2023 to 47.33% in 2024, seen as a sign of more-frequent or severe claims.
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Utah’s WCF to Restructure as a Mutual Insurance Holding Company

• WCF Insurance plans to restructure into a mutual insurance holding company pending a vote of WCF Mutual policyholders.
• The move aims at preserving WCF’s mutual heritage while enhancing its ability to serve policyholders, expand offerings, and grow responsibly in a rapidly evolving insurance market, according to the Sandy, Utah-based company.
• When approved, the newly formed WCF Mutual Insurance Holding Company will become the parent company of WCF Insurance Company (formerly WCF Mutual Insurance Company), WCF National Insurance Company, and WCF Select Insurance Company.
• All three insurers will be subsidiaries of the holding company and policyholders the three insurers will all become members of the mutual holding company.
• The restructuring is expected to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
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Raintree, Jopari, OccuPro Team on Return-to-Work Solutions

• Rehab and PT software provider Raintree said it has established “formal strategic partnerships” with Jopari and OccuPro to boost return-to-work outcomes for therapy practices managing workers’ compensation cases.
• OccuPro is a WC-specific documentation software provider; Jopari is a healthcare information technology provider.
• The three firms will host a live webinar on April 30 at 1 p.m. ET to provide more details on the collaboration.
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