Cambridge, MA – Costs per claim and other metrics of 18 state workers’ compensation systems are analyzed in depth in a series of studies, CompScope™ Benchmarks, 19th Edition, released by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).
“The CompScope™ studies can help policymakers and other stakeholders identify current cost drivers and emerging trends in a wide variety of workers’ compensation system components,” said Ramona Tanabe, executive vice president and counsel of WCRI. “Trends in workers’ compensation medical and indemnity payments were noted in a number of states with changes such as new laws or court rulings.”
The studies also examine how income benefits, overall medical payments, duration of temporary disability, litigiousness, benefit delivery expenses, and timeliness of first indemnity payment change over time, and they compare how these measures differ from state to state.
The following are sample findings for some of the study states:
- Florida: Faster recent growth in indemnity benefits per claim may be, in part, related to the early effect of two significant decisions issued by the Florida Supreme Court in 2016. Moderate growth in medical payments per claim in 2016 and 2017 may reflect the impact of medical fee schedule changes.
- Tennessee: The average total cost of a workers’ compensation claim was among the lowest of the study states, reflecting the effects of system reforms. These effects included a reduction in worker attorney involvement and in permanent partial disability and lump-sum benefits.
- Texas: The average total cost of a workers’ compensation claim decreased 3 percent per year from 2015 to 2017, driven by a decrease in medical payments per claim and stable indemnity benefits per claim, both of which differed from recent trends in many other study states.
CompScope™ Benchmarks, 19th Edition illustrates the performance of 18 state workers’ compensation systems over time and how they compare. The 18 states in the study are Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. There are individual reports for every state except Arkansas and Iowa.
The state studies explore the time from injury to first indemnity payment, the average total cost per claim, the average payment per claim for medical care, and the average payment per claim for indemnity benefits, as well as how state results may reflect system features and processes.
For more information or to purchase studies: WCRI: CompScope™ Benchmarks, 19th Edition
Source: WCRI