Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features WCRI’s release of a new edition of its CompScope Medical Benchmarks report, which examined the Michigan system and found that the average medical payment per claim decreased 4% in Michigan for 2020 injuries with experience through March 2021, likely reflecting factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
WCRI noted that the decreases indicate some impact from the pandemic, including the temporary suspension of certain outpatient procedures and treatments during the early part of the pandemic, as well as the avoidance of certain types of care by workers’ compensation patients. Other key findings included that prices paid and utilization of professional services have been mostly stable since 2015, including small changes in 2020; and that the percentage of claims with prescription drugs continued to decrease in Michigan in 2020/2021, while the average prescription payment per claim with prescriptions grew.