Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) June 26, 2013
A new 22-state study from the Workers Compensation Study Institute (WCRI) says that nonhospital costs paid for widespread surgeries performed on injured workers have been higher than the costs paid by group overall health insurers for the very same surgery in almost all study states.

In a quantity of states, the workers compensation rates paid for typical surgeries have been 24 instances larger than the costs paid by group health insurers in the identical state, says the WCRI study A New Benchmark for Workers Compensation Charge Schedules: Rates Paid by Industrial Insurers? In contrast, the costs paid for workplace visits below workers compensation had been typically within 30 % of the prices paid by group overall health insurers.

According to the study, workers compensation rates are extremely a lot shaped by the state fee schedules or their absence. In states with greater (reduce) charge schedules, workers compensation prices paid had been usually larger (lower). In states with no fee schedules, rates paid had been normally greater.

In a standard year, 5 to ten states have important public policy debates about enacting new charge schedules or producing major revisions to existing ones to regulate rates paid in workers compensation. Often, the central query debated is how high or low the charge schedule prices must be, mentioned Richard Victor, WCRIs executive director. We hope this study can help policymakers and other stakeholders ground the debate.

This study focuses on the median nonhospital price tag paid for five frequent surgeries and four widespread established patient workplace visits in 22 huge states for services delivered in 2009. These are the costs in fact paid for professional services billed below a distinct Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code. This study also discusses how to generalize these results to later years.

The 22 states included in this study are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

For far more info about this report or to buy a copy, please click on the following link: http://www.wcrinet.org/outcome/new_benchmark_for_wc_fs_outcome.html.

ABOUT WCRI:

The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is an independent, not-for-profit research organization primarily based in Cambridge, MA. Founded in 1983, the WCRI is recognized as a leader in providing higher-high quality, credible, and objective information about public policy concerns involving workers’ compensation systems. WCRI’s diverse membership involves employers insurers governmental entities managed care organizations wellness care providers insurance coverage regulators state labor organizations and state administrative agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. For far more details, check out: http://www.wcrinet.org.