Texas Workers Comp Report Looks Very Positive
A state of Texas Workers Comp report shows progress and savings. Texas and California always seem to be microcosms of what is occurring in Workers Compensation nationwide. Last week, I came across the “Biennial Report of the Texas Department of Insurance To the 83rd Legislature.”
You may want to follow the link to the report as Texas had and addressed many of the Workers Comp concerns that dominate the insurance news nationwide. As I posted last month, due to Texas Workers Comp reforms, overall payments were reduced by 4%. The medical Workers Comp payments were reduced by 2% during a medical inflationary period.
I wanted to cover a few points from the study:
- With or without the reforms, Texas has always had a lower injury rate than the rest of the US
- Average premium per $100 in 2010 was $1.38 – that is a very low figure
- 1/3 of all employers in Texas are non-subscribers. I was surprised at that high a % of non-participation.
- Certified medical network have spiked in popularity and usage
- Certified medical networks resulted in reduced medical costs
- Not all medical networks are the same – there was some variability on costs, time to return to work, etc. between each network.
- A majority of employers do not use Certified Medical Networks. That should change over time when the obvious cost-reduction figures are reported on medical networks.
- Prescriptions for non-needed drugs decreased 54%
- Prescriptions for opioids were reduced by 10%.
Some of the study’s conclusions were tentative as best. I did not include those figures. Texas should be given credit for implementing reforms for such a large state.
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