WCIRB: Newsom's COVID-19 Presumption to Cost Between $600M and $1.8 Billion

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order creating a rebuttable COVID-19 presumption will cost between $600 million and $1.8 billion, according to a cost evaluation released Tuesday by the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. The evaluation includes low, medium and high estimates of the number of claims that would be covered under the presumption, specifically for health care workers, first responders and other employees who work outside the home. On the low side, the WCIRB estimates 23,600 claims with a price tag of just over a half-billion dollars.  ...