Expensive State For Workers Comp-Illinois
The State of Illinois ranks as one of the most expensive. I was reading over the Illinois Abstract on Workers Comp from WCRI. Even though there was a supposed reform in Illinois over the last few years, the Workers Comp costs have remained high. A quote from the press release –
“WCRI found that the 2006 price regulations had a short-term impact on the trend on medical payments per workers’ compensation claim. Medical payments per claim grew two percent from 2005 to 2006, following the direct impact of the new fee schedules. However, medical payments per claim increased an average of nine percent per year after 2006. This was similar to the growth prior to the introduction of the 2006 fee schedule, which limited fee schedule growth rates in the rates to changes in the general consumer price index or CPI. The main driver of this post-reform growth was related to hospital inpatient and outpatient payments per claim.”
A medical cost growth rate of 9% annually is not staggering when compared to California. Illinois and California are both post-reform for Workers Comp. I decided to look further into why there was such a sharp increase in medical benefits.
As I have posted very often, the way that Workers Comp tabulations affect the E-Mods is as a very delayed system. In other words, patience is a virtue as in the case of Illinois. According to NCCI Illinois’s medical severity is actually decreasing since 2008.
The average medical cost for a claim in the Lincoln state was approximately $4,000 more per claim than the countrywide average. This has been reduced to $0 in 2010 when compared to 2008. I am pointing this out as many companies want a Risk Manager or Safety Department to show immediate results. It just does not work that way.
The bottom line is the medical rates did grow in Illinois at 9%. They were growing steadily nationwide. The reforms are showing four years later as medical costs are decreasing. This is the same cycle as the E-Mod for Workers Compensation premiums.
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