According to a recent study by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), costs per comp claim have remained steady in California since 2010 – but a moderate increase was noted in 2019, the final year recorded in the study. It was also mentioned in this study that the bump up in costs were influenced mainly by rising indemnity benefits, which incurred a growth of 6% in 2019. The steadiness of these aforementioned costs per comp claim prior to 2019 were also attributed to the solidity of indemnity benefits per claim, especially during the three-year span ranging from 2015 to 2018.
CompScope Benchmarks for California (21st edition) went on to identify what caused indemnity benefits to increase in 2019 – which was mainly to do with the rising numbers in the weekly wages of injured workers and the average duration of temporary disability benefits, among other things. The study went on to discover that California has the highest cost per claim when compared to all other states included in the research – roughly 30% more expensive than the study average. The state’s benefit delivery cost per claim was also listed as one of the highest among the relevant states.
The WCRI engages in these CompScope Benchmarking studies on a yearly basis, contrasting California’s workers’ comp system against seventeen different states. The metrics being studied include performance-based numbers such as cost per claim, disability durations, permanent partial disability (PPD) lump sum payments, indemnity benefits, and more.
TukkoMed is California’s one stop shop for QMEs. Whether you are looking for assistance with HIPAA compliant reporting at agreeable rates or if you just want to read up on all things workers’ comp – we’re here for you. Send us a message today!