Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features NCCI’s recent release of a new Insights report that examines the the American Medical Association (AMA) going digital with its updates to the sixth edition of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment and the potential impact of recent updates on workers comp indemnity costs.
The AMA Guides are the most widely used basis for determining impairment ratings in state workers’ comp systems, and NCCI monitors updates for impacts on workers’ comp costs. Key findings included that overall, a state’s adoption of the 2021 updates may impact overall system costs, although both the direction and magnitude of the potential impacts are uncertain; the 2022 updates are not expected to impact WC indemnity costs; and going forward, the AMA Guides, Sixth Edition, is expected to have annual electronic updates, but the updates will not impact prior editions of the AMA Guides.