WCRI Study Agrees with CutCompCosts.com on High-Cost Workers Comp Claims
Our website- started in 200 -1 has covered avoiding high-cost workers comp claims and how to handle them. I used a 1998 study that covered high-cost claims that I pulled from public entity employees. The same four claim characteristics appeared in almost all the files.
An archaic term for high-cost workers comp claims came from the paper-file era. The files were always at least three or four brown folders full of paper. Adjusters always called them “old dogs.”
My old study covered 7,000 claims in North Carolina only. The WCRI study covers 100 times that amount. See below for the states covered by the massive study.
WCRI Study on High-Cost Workers Comp Claims Released
The data for this study come from the WCRI Detailed Benchmark/Evaluation (DBE) database. The study analyzed more than 720,000 open and closed claims with more than seven days of lost time from 32 states.
These claims had injuries from October 1, 2015, to March 31, 2019, with 36 months of experience observed from the date of injury up to March 31, 2022. The DBE database covers approximately 38–77 percent of all workers’ compensation claims, varying by state, and the 32 states represent over 80 percent of the workers’ compensation benefits in the United States during the study period.
You can find the study here. And yes, it is worth the nominal cost. An example graph and conclusion can be found below.
One area that differentiates this study from most on the subject comes from the removal of catastrophic and minor claims. To me, that means the costs from the types of claims included in the study can be controlled to a point.
Before I read over the study, I thought it was more of a catastrophic claims analysis. Instead, the study covers more of a “sweet spot” in the claims. “Sweet spot” may not be the right term when referring to injured workers. A critical point sounds better.
Conclusion and Graph
In my own words, starting intensive care one-year post-injury increased the likelihood of a high-cost claim by 35 times – wow! One of the most popular articles on the J&L website covers the establishment of workers comp medical networks – especially the original treating physician.
The below graph shows the claims numbers covered for medical payments. Notice that the graph refers to payment totals and not Total Incurred.
The below graph covers so much info that I will not comment on it other than it covers a ton of workers comp data.
Please note that WCRI paid no fees for me to comment on their study. I was provided with a copy of the study so that I could write on high-cost workers comp claims more accurately for our wonderful article and newsletter readers.
