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Workers comp claims in Minnesota drop to nearly half of 1997 levels: Report

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The total number of paid workers compensation claims in Minnesota has decreased 47% in 15 years, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry said in a new report.

Workers compensation claims per 100 full-time equivalent employees fell to 4.6 in 2012, the latest year for which data is available, from 8.7 in 1997, according to the department's “2012 Workers' Compensation System Report,” released Thursday.

“Though each workplace accident is one too many, the report underscores that Minnesota's workplaces have become much safer for employees and comparatively less costly for employers since 1997,” Ken Peterson, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, said in a statement.

In 2012, the total cost of workers compensation in Minnesota was about $1.57 billion, or an estimated $1.33 per $100 of payroll, the study shows.

“The total cost of Minnesota's workers' compensation system per $100 of payroll has followed a cycle since 1997, with low points reached in 2000 and 2010 and increases for 2011 and 2012,” according to the study.

Insurer expenses and indemnity benefits other than vocational rehabilitation were among the largest system cost components in 2012, results show. Medical benefits made up the largest share at about 35.3% of the total cost, according to the report.