Aging Workforce – How Injuries, Claims, Outcomes Change with Age – Dr. Bogdan Savych
The age distribution of the aging workforce is projected to change in the next 10 years. The large cohort of baby boomers will have largely retired, shifting the age distribution toward younger workers.
In this session, we will help frame the potential impact of this shift on the workers’ compensation system by providing a multi-dimensional picture of how claim characteristics and outcomes vary with age. In particular, we will examine how injury rates, claim costs, contributors to claim costs (such as utilization of medical care, and duration of disability), and outcomes differ by age.
Questions Addressed:
- How do rates of non-fatal and fatal injuries vary by age? Do the events causing injury differ by age?
- How do medical and indemnity payments per claim vary by age and are these variations related to the different injuries sustained by workers of different ages?
- How do worker outcomes—such as return to work, access to care, and satisfaction with care—vary by age
Presentation
In 2030 over 20% of the workforce will be Senior Citizens
BLS > Older workers are more likely to remain working > 12% over 75 years old
65+-Year-old workers are among the least injured age groups
Older workers are more likely to have falls, slips, and trips.
Sprain-type injuries are very low for the 65+ age group
Cut injuries decrease with age
Hip, upper extremity, and leg fractures increase with age
Medical payments increase with age for claims with more than 7 days of lost time
Neurological injuries (very expensive) increase with age and then decreases at about 50+ years
Indemnity payments decrease at 55 years+ with the lowest for the 65+ age group
Pre-injury weekly wages decrease sharply for the 65+ age group
Variation in Outcomes by Age
The 65+ age group possesses a larger amount of comorbidities > as expected
The 65+ age group had fewer problems receiving provider services
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