Research

A new CWCI Report to the Industry looks at trends in California public self-insured claims experience using state data to track changes in public self-insured employers' aggregate losses, average amounts paid and incurred per claim and claim volume over the past decade, with results measured at the first through 5th report levels. The Report is posted in the Research section.

Spine disorders with Spinal Cord or Root Involvement account for less than 1-1/2 percent of all California job injury claims, but nearly 7 percent of all workers' comp paid losses. The latest CWCI Injury Score Card offers detailed data on these high-cost claims.

CWCI research measures the growing use of drug testing in California workers' compensation, as well as the associated billings and payments.

Duplicate payments to hospitals allowed by the California Workers' Compensation Official Medical Fee Schedule for implantable hardware used in spinal surgery added an average of $20,137 in fees to more than 3,350 work injury claims in 2010, boosting workers' compensation medical costs by nearly $67.5 million

The latest CWCI Injury Score Card examines head and spinal injuries without spinal cord involvement, which comprise only a small percentage of claims, but account for only a small percentage of California workers' compensation claims, but a disproportionate share of paid losses.

An update to the CWCI analysis on the use of Schedule II painkillers in Calif workers' comp suggests that that the use of these drugs peaked later than initially indicated, with revised data showing Schedule II opioids fell from a record 6.7% of workers' comp prescriptions in the 2nd quarter of last year to 4.9% of the prescriptions in the 4th quarter.