Mass. Workers' Comp Claim Costs Fell In 2010
The cost for each workers' compensation claim in Massachusetts fell 6 percent in 2010, the largest decline among 16 states reviewed in a new study by an organization that studies workers' compensation.
The decrease in total costs per claim in Massachusetts from 2009 reflects, in part, the state's recovery from the Great Recession, according to the Cambridge-based Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). By contrast, total costs per workers' compensation claim rose 10 percent per year, on average, during the recession period of 2007 to 2009.
In its report, which covered costs in 16 states, the WCRI examined claims involving workplace injuries that resulted in more than seven days of time away from work. The study found that because the rise in unemployment was less severe than that of the United States, injured workers may have had more opportunities to return to work with their employers or find new jobs with new employers in states with higher unemployment rates.
The states in the study — California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin — represent nearly 60 percent of the nation's workers' compensation benefit payments, according to WCRI.
(For more about workers' compensation, read our story from our Oct. 29 print edition: Workers' Comp: Cost Burden? Or Not?)
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