WCRI Annual Free Workers Comp Info – Medical Price Index – 17th Edition
One of the best free Workers Comp Info sources on Medical Pricing nationwide was published this month by WCRI – Workers Comp Research Institute. The authors of the study are Rebecca Yang, PhD and Olesya Fomenko, PhD.
This annual study compares prices paid for medical professional services across 36 states from 2008 to 2024. It focuses on services commonly billed by physicians, physical therapists, and chiropractors, including evaluation and management, physical medicine, surgery, major and minor radiology, neurological testing, pain management injections, and emergency care.
Unlike other indices measuring prices of all medical professional services provided to the general population, this index is a more relevant benchmark of medical inflation in workers’ compensation as it focuses on those services commonly provided to workers with injuries. Since workers’ compensation price regulations are set at the state level, this study provides a state-level price index to help policymakers and stakeholders conduct meaningful comparisons of prices paid across states and to monitor price trends in relation to changes in fee schedules.
This edition covers 36 states that represent 88 percent of the workers’ compensation benefits paid in the United States. These states are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
By going here and providing your info, anyone can download the statistical studies for every state. The medical pricing info shows a trend that I have pointed out since I started this blog in 2007.
I have mentioned this same anomaly (or is it?) since WCRI started publishing this study and report. Medical fee schedules do two interesting things.
- Control the cost of workers comp medical treatment, and
- ‘Allow claims adjusters underwriters, and other insurance personnel to forecast the cost or reserve files more accurately. An adjuster can easily access information from the report to assess the medical reserve levels of certain medical procedures. If the adjuster is not familiar with a state’s medical cost, the charts and graphs are even more valuable.
An Example of WCRI Free Medical Info – Tennessee
Let us look at an example chart for Tennessee, I would have included the data tables, but the numbers were too small to be easily readable. The below chart should be helpful.
If one has a file from 2019 that needs to adjust the reserves for future medical. According to the data table and the graph, Evaluation and Medical (E&M) has increased sharply 129% while major radiology has fallen to a much lower level of 68%.
What The Study and Report Cover
From WCRI –
This annual study compares prices paid for medical professional services across 36 states from 2008 to 2024. It focuses on services commonly billed by physicians, physical therapists, and chiropractors, including evaluation and management, physical medicine, surgery, major and minor radiology, neurological testing, pain management injections, and emergency care.
Unlike other indices measuring prices of all medical professional services provided to the general population, this index is a more relevant benchmark of medical inflation in workers’ compensation as it focuses on those services commonly provided to workers with injuries. Since workers’ compensation price regulations are set at the state level, this study provides a state-level price index to help policymakers and stakeholders conduct meaningful comparisons of prices paid across states and to monitor price trends in relation to changes in fee schedules.
This edition covers 36 states that represent 88 percent of the workers’ compensation benefits paid in the United States. These states are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Download the free Workers Comp info as a great resource when comparing states.
