California’s private self-insured employers reported 7.4% fewer workers’ compensation claims in 2024 than in 2023, pushing private self-insured claim frequency to a four-year low, a new report shows.
However, for the second straight year, the average paid and incurred losses on these claims increased, driving total paid and incurred losses higher, according to a California Workers’ Compensation Institute review of initial data from the state Office of Self-Insurance Plans.
The annual summary of private self-insured data posted by OSIP offers an initial snapshot of California private, self-insured claims experience for cases reported in 2024. It notes the number of covered employees, medical-only and indemnity claim counts and total paid and incurred losses on those claims through the end of the year.
The 2024 summary shows the experience of private self-insured employers who covered 2.25 million California employees last year (down from 2.34 million in the 2023 first report) and who reported 87,360 claims in 2023, down from 94,386 claims in the 2023 initial report, according to the CWCI.
Private self-insured employers reported 45,170 medical-only claims in 2024, down from 48,404 in 2023, the first full year following pandemic, though that was still 3.2% above the 43,779 med-only claims noted in 2020, when med-only claim volume plummeted during the brief, pandemic-driven recession, the CWCI analysis shows.
The number of private self-insured indemnity claims, which spiked during the pandemic, fell for the second straight, declining by 8.2% to 42,190 claims in 2024. The 2024 claim count translates to an overall frequency rate of 3.88 claims per 100 private self-insured employees, down from an overall rate of 4.03 in 2023, marking the second straight year-over-year decline in private self-insured claim frequency, and pushing the overall rate to the lowest level since 2020, according to the CWCI.
Paid losses on the 2024 private self-insured claims through the end of the year totaled $353.6 million, up 3.9% from the first report total for 2023, as total paid medical increased by 6.1% to $177.6 million, and total paid indemnity increased by 1.9% to $176.0 million, the report shows.
CWCI members and subscribers can go to the Communications section of the CWCI website to view a summary bulletin with details on the report.
Topics
Trends
California
Profit Loss
Workers’ Compensation
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