Medical Payments per Workers’ Compensation Claim Grew About 3 Percent Each Year in Illinois

News provided by

Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI)

Dec 07, 2017, 10:00 ET


CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (PRWEB) December 07, 2017 -- Medical payments per workers’ compensation claim in Illinois grew 3.1 percent per year on average from 2012 through 2015, according to a recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).

In all, medical payments per workers’ compensation claim were higher in Illinois than the median for the states included in the study.

The study, CompScope™ Medical Benchmarks for Illinois, 18th Edition, examined medical payments, prices, and utilization in Illinois compared with 17 other states.

“Recent public policy discussions in Illinois have focused on reducing workers’ compensation costs and making the state more attractive to businesses,” said Ramona Tanabe, WCRI’s executive vice president and counsel. “Among the areas of interest are causation of the injury, medical fee schedules, insurance premiums, and permanent partial disability benefits.”

The following are among the study’s other findings:

  • Physical medicine was a key driver of higher-than-typical medical utilization, accounting for more visits per claim and services per visit in Illinois than in other states studied.
  • Payments per claim for surgery (professional services) and facility payments to ambulatory surgery centers were higher in Illinois than in other study states.
  • Prices paid for professional (nonhospital) services were lower than typical for evaluation and management (office visits), but higher for other services. These results were related to fee schedules.

WCRI studied medical payments, prices, and utilization in 18 states, including Illinois, looking at claim experience through 2016 on injuries that occurred mainly from 2010 to 2015. WCRI’s CompScope™ Medical Benchmarks studies compare payments from state to state and across time.

To purchase a copy of this report, visit https://www.wcrinet.org/reports/compscope-medical-benchmarks-for-illinois-18th-edition.

The Cambridge-based WCRI is recognized as a leader in providing high-quality, objective information about public policy issues involving workers' compensation systems.

About WCRI:

The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1983, WCRI has been a catalyst for significant improvements in workers' compensation systems around the world with its objective, credible, and high-quality research. WCRI's members include employers; insurers; governmental entities; managed care companies; health care providers; insurance regulators; state labor organizations; and state administrative agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Andrew Kenneally, Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), http://www.wcrinet.org, +1 617-661-9274 x 257 Ext: 257, [email protected]