Over the past several years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have imposed stricter Medicare Set-Aside guidelines as part of its ongoing effort to preserve the Medicare trust fund.
Most patients enter the workers compensation system due to physical injury, which often requires treatment for pain. But long-term opioid use can have negative side effects and drive up claim costs.
Workers' compensation insurance writers saw total pharmacy spending per injured worker in 2009 rise 6.5 percent, according to a report by a risk management services firm.
A new drug study by PMSI provides significant insight into the key drivers of price, utilization, and drug mix across the top medication classes used in the treatment of injured workers nationwide.
The workers compensation market experienced a 6.5 percent growth in total pharmacy spending per injured worker in 2009, according to a report by a pharmaceutical products provider.
Chronic pain is one of the most common, costly, and challenging issues that workers' compensation payers face. The toll it can take on the life of the injured individual is just as dramatic, and costly, on a personal level.