The acceleration of prescription drug costs for workers' compensation systems and other payers is finally showing signs of moderating, the National Council on Compensation Insurance reports in a study due for release on Monday.

NCCI said that in 2004–their most recent data–the rate of increase was 8.2 percent, down two points from 2003 when the rate was 10.2 percent, and nearly half of the 14 percent rate of increase in 2002.

Among reasons cited for the slowed increase by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are:

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.