Claims activity and payments rise: Connecticut Paid Leave reports $1.15 billion paid and growing weekly outlays

Connecticut Paid Leave Authority staff reported May 8 that program usage and payments continued to grow, with staff citing both claims‑filed metrics and adjudicated outcomes.

John Scott presented April 2025 claims and year‑over‑year comparisons. He said the three‑month claims received total was 25,668 with a monthly moving average of 8,556, representing a 9.17% increase year‑over‑year. When counting the bonding segment of pregnancy cases as separate records, staff reported 11,381 bonding segments in the 12‑month period ending April 30, 2025.

Approval and payment metrics: adjudicated approved claims rose, with an approval rate that reached roughly 80.37% when including bonding segments; the denial rate was reported at 19.63%. Staff said weekly payments averaged about $8.57 million over the last 26 weeks and that the program has paid more than $1.15 billion in total. Unique employees paid were cited at nearly 158,000.

Operational metrics: call center data reported an average of about 30,400 calls per month over the last 12 months, with 89% of calls answered within 30 seconds; online claim filing rose to 74% and opt‑in rates for email and text alerts were 85% and 82%, respectively.

Board context and next steps: Board members pressed staff on when claims might level off; staff and committee members explained differences between "claims filed" (the number displayed) and actuarial incidence rates (which focus on claims approved and eligible incident rates). Staff said actuaries will present updated quarterly and annual estimates, and that the authority will monitor fund balances and invest returns closely as benefit spending increases.

Ending: The claims presentation concluded with board discussion about actuarial timing and reserves; staff noted the authority remains actively monitoring the program's financial condition.