Boca Raton, FL – NCCI recently released the second of four installments in a new series on inflation and workers compensation medical costs.
In today’s ever-changing environment, there is no shortage of questions on inflation and how medical costs may be impacted. In fact, workers compensation stakeholders indicate this is one of the top-of-mind issues they’re facing.
NCCI tackles this important subject in its new Inflation and Workers Compensation Medical Costs series in four parts addressing the key components of medical cost drivers: general overall medical costs, facility services, physicians, and prescription drugs.
The first installment explored medical cost trends across different types of medical services to better explain how the current inflationary environment is affecting workers compensation medical costs.
One key observation from that installment was that facility services have been the biggest driver of increased medical costs for workers compensation in recent years.
This second installment examines how different types of facility services contribute to countrywide and regional facility cost trends in workers compensation by drilling down on price and utilization trends for different types of facilities and how each contributes to WC costs in the different US geographical regions. The article also provides state-specific results.
Key findings included:
- Two factors help explain the changes in medical facility costs: the amount paid per visit and the number of visits per claim.
- Facility-paid cost per claim grew 3.3% annually, with regional averages ranging from 2.5% to 4.1%.
- Across facility types, increases in the amount paid per visit were the main drivers of increased facility costs for the past decade.
- Hospital outpatient services are the most prominent contributor to the increase in facility costs.
- The number of inpatient visits decreased about 3% per year, while the number of surgery visits for ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) grew across the regions.
Read the free report: NCCI Inflation and Workers Compensation Medical Costs Part 2 — Facility Services
Source: NCCI