Report: Workers' comp medical costs soar - Business First of Buffalo:

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The research also found that thosse costs would have been billions more without systek reforms earlierthis decade. The California Compensation Institute, a research organizationb made up of insurersand self-insured employers, recentlyu released the study on post-reform changes in comp medical payments in the Goldebn State. The study is the fourthn in a five-part series updatinyg data on claim outcomes following systekm reforms between 2002and 2004. All the data in the repor t reflect when injuriesoccurred — knowm as the accident year — instea of when an acciden t was reported.
Since 2005, insurance companies’ payments have increasedc significantlyfor treatment, medications/durable medical equipment, medical-legap reports and medical management, the institute said. Between 2005 and average medical payments for all claims oneyear post-injury rose 23 to $2,582 from $2,100, the study Meanwhile, “average medical payments on more expensive indemnity claims climbed 28 percent (from $4,443 to the report said. Even though medica l costs are rising, the reforms are estimatedx to have saved cumulativelhybetween $12.8 billion and $25.3 billio in medical costs betweejn 2004 and 2008.
Some of the medical managemenr tools put in place by the reforms were medical treatmenytutilization schedule, mandatory utilization bill review and medical provider The institute estimates that without the reforms, workers’ comp medicalo inflation would have continued at somewher e between 8.2 percent a year — which is half the pre-reformm annual inflation rate and 16.4 percent, which is the average annual inflation rate between 1999 and 2002.