California's 2012 workers comp reforms see mixed results: Study
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California's workers compensation reforms adopted in 2012 could increase the price paid for primary medical care but decrease the price paid for specialty medical services, according to a Workers Compensation Research Institute report.
The reforms also may lead to more timely medical treatments for injured workers, faster dispute resolution and lower medical-legal expenses, among other changes, according to the Wednesday report intended to set a baseline to evaluate California's reforms.
To that end, the Cambridge, Mass.–based WCRI studied how California compared with 15 other states before adopting S.B. 863 last year.
“Medical payments per claim in the state were fairly typical, masking several offsetting factors,” WCRI said in the report. “Prices paid were lower than in the typical study state, while utilization of nonhospital services was higher. Hospital outpatient/ambulatory surgical center costs in California were lower than in many study states. There was also more frequent use of chiropractic care and services from physical therapists.”
WCRI also found that injured worker medical care costs in California grew rapidly from 2005 to 2010 following a decrease of more than 30% from 2002 to 2004. The decreases were due to a prior round of California workers comp reforms.
More information on WCRI's study, “Baseline for Monitoring the Impact of 2012 Reforms in California,” is available here.
