Accrued Workers' Compensation Cost - (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

The following table summarizes the accrued workers’ compensation cost activity for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
(in millions)	2020			2019
Total accrued costs, beginning of period	$	214		$	238
Incurred
Current year	20			19
Prior years	(3		)	(5		)
Total incurred	17			14
Paid
Current year	(1		)	(1		)
Prior years	(13		)	(15		)
Total paid	(14		)	(16		)
Total accrued costs, end of period	$	217		$	236

The following summarizes workers' compensation liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets:



(in millions)	March 31, 2020			December 31, 2019
Total accrued costs, end of period	$	217		$	214
Collateral paid to carriers and offset against accrued costs	(9		)	(9		)
Total accrued costs, net of carrier collateral offset	$	208		$	205
Payable in less than 1 year (net of collateral paid to carriers of $3 at March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019)	$	63		$	61
Payable in more than 1 year (net of collateral paid to carriers of $6 at March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019)	145			144
Total accrued costs, net of carrier collateral offset	$	208		$	205

Incurred claims related to prior years represent changes in estimates for ultimate losses on workers' compensation claims. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the change was primarily due to lower than expected loss emergence for more recent plan years.

As of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, we had $45 million and $46 million, respectively, of collateral held by insurance carriers of which $9 million and $9 million, respectively, was offset against accrued workers' compensation costs as the agreements permit and are net settled against collateral held.