Virginia The Most Expensive State
The most expensive state for WC medical costs is Virginia. This article is a follow-up from this post on medical costs. The previous article examined Workers Comp medical costs in Virginia as being the highest in the nation. I decided to see if NCCI agreed with the Workers Comp Research Institute (WCRI). The NCCI and WCRI are both great data sources for Workers Compensation.
I compared each of the states in Virginia’s general area to see if the medical costs were actually that high. I was shocked to find that Virginia had such high medical cost severity.
- VA – $44,000
- DC – $18,000
- KY – $34,000
- MD – $28,000
- NC – $32,000
Operating without a fee schedule usually means the employers for that state will pay more in medical costs – plain and simple. It would be very wise for Virginia to enact some type of Workers Comp fee schedule. There are neighboring states with great fee schedules they could adopt very quickly.
Will this situation improve in the future? I actually doubt it. As long as medical fees are allowed to be charged with no checks and balances in place, employers in states such as VA will be near the top in Workers Comp medical costs.
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