Growing earnings, workforce pushed comp costs up 6.9% in 2012: Report

Workers compensation costs paid by employers rose 6.9% to $83.2 billion year-over-year in 2012, driven largely by an increase in worker numbers and earnings, the National Academy of Social Insurance said Tuesday in a report.

Wages eligible for workers comp coverage increased 4.3% to $6.3 trillion in 2012 from 2011, and the number of covered workers increased 1.6% to 127.9 million in 2012, the Washington-based NASI said in “Workers' Compensation: Benefits, Coverage, and Costs, 2012.”

Workers comp benefits increased modestly in that time frame, NASI's report showed. Wage replacement benefits grew 1.8% from 2011 to 2012, while medical benefits grew 0.9%.

“As employment increases, the number of workers covered by workers compensation increases, along with the number of work-related injuries, and workers' compensation benefits and costs,” the report said.

A copy of the report is available here.