Report highlights state variances in comp medical costs
Prescription payments for injured workers have fallen rapidly in California since 2013, while in Texas medical payments per claim increased from 2017 to 2019, according to a report released Tuesday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
The annual report by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research organization examines trends in payments, prices and use of medical care in 18 states from 2014 through 2019 and uses claims experience through the start of the pandemic.
The results include experience on claims through March 2020, providing a pre-COVID-19 baseline for evaluating the impact of the virus on workers compensation claims, WCRI said.
The report found that the rapid decrease in prescription payments per claim in California may reflect factors including the independent medical review process, evidence-based treatment guidelines and some medical provider networks prohibiting physician dispensing.
While medical payments per claim were lower in Texas than the typical state, double-digit growth in hospital payments drove increases from 2017 to 2019 after three years of decreases, according to the report.
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