National – Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) released CompScope Benchmarks, 2026 Edition this week, analyzing workers’ compensation system performance across 18 states. The study compares total costs per claim and major components, including medical payments, income benefits, benefit utilization, and temporary disability duration and timeliness, using claims data from injuries occurring between 2020 and 2024 with experience through 2025. The report highlights ongoing interstate variation in claim costs and benefit delivery, driven by differences in medical spending, benefit levels, administrative practices, and recent economic conditions.
Arizona – SB 1215 passed the House and Senate and is now awaiting the Governor’s desk. As a reminder, SB 1215 is designed to ensure firefighters receive full workers’ compensation protection by correcting a punctuation error that insurers have exploited to deny cancer claims. Specifically, the bill clarifies that adenocarcinoma is a standalone cancer presumed to be work-related under Arizona’s presumptive cancer law, closing a loophole that allowed insurers to argue coverage applied only to adenocarcinoma of the respiratory tract. By explicitly correcting the statute, the measures ensure firefighters diagnosed with cancer can access the benefits intended for them without unnecessary obstacles.
Maryland – Three bills expanding workers’ compensation presumptions for public safety personnel were enacted this week.
- HB 878/SB 449 are companion bills aiming to extend heart disease and hypertension presumptions to correctional officers in Carroll County. Specifically, these bills expand Maryland’s workers’ compensation presumption for occupational diseases to include Carroll County correctional deputies who suffer from heart disease or hypertension, provided certain statutory conditions are met.
- HB 347 aims to revise and broadens Maryland’s existing hypertension presumption for firefighters. Specifically, it establishes certain firefighters, firefighting instructors, rescue squad members, advanced life support unit members, and members of the Office of the State Fire Marshal who develop hypertension are presumed to have a compensable occupational disease under Maryland workers’ compensation law.
New York – New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang released the 2025 Annual Report of the Office of the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Inspector General (WCFIG), which details enforcement and oversight efforts aimed at detecting and deterring fraud within the state’s workers’ compensation system. The report summarizes investigative activity involving claimants, employers, and medical providers, as well as outreach and training efforts designed to improve fraud detection and reporting statewide. According to the report, investigators identified more than $1.9 million in fraudulent activity in 2025, resulting in 22 arrests, a more than 50% increase from the prior year, and the recovery of over $1.7 million through restitution, fines, and court ordered payments. Check out this WorkCompWire article to learn more.
Texas – The Texas Division of Worker’s Compensation (DWC) approved a 2026 Medical Quality Review Annual Audit Plan that will focus on the prescriptions for topical analgesics. According to DWC, Medical Quality Reviews evaluate the actions of health care providers, carriers, utilization review agents, and related entities to ensure care delivered to injured workers is medically necessary, cost‑effective, and supports functional recovery and return‑to‑work outcomes. The focus on topical analgesics reflects continued concerns about prescribing patterns and utilization trends in pain management, with the audit intended to identify outliers, improve compliance with treatment guidelines, and promote appropriate medical care in the Texas workers’ compensation system.
Virginia – S173 passed both the House and the Senate. As a reminder, S173 if enacted by the Governor would allow injured workers to request vocational rehabilitation services if their employers do not provide them within 90 days of the worker being out of work. The bill takes effect on July 1, 2026.
Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) released a plain language summary outlining key provisions of 2025 Wisconsin Act 145, the workers’ compensation reform law signed by Gov. Tony Evers that takes effect April 1, 2026. The summary outlines statutory changes affecting benefits, claims administration, medical evidence, and enforcement, including higher permanent partial disability benefit rates, expanded fraud penalties, updates to hearing procedures, and broader authority for advanced practice clinicians.
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