NU Online News Service

The long-term care industry's booming growth is being accompanied by a high level of worker injuries, a study by the National Council on Compensation Insurance has found.

According to the research by the Boca Raton, Fla.-based data collection and comp rate advisory firm, injury frequency and total losses per worker for all long-term care industries is higher than other business sectors.

Average injury frequency from 1993-2005 at nursing home facilities and retirement living centers is more than double the private industry average, while frequency for home health care services is 17 percent higher than average, NCCI said.

Among other points highlighted in the report was the finding that comp costs for employers, or "severity" of claims, is below average at nursing homes and retirement living centers. This is due to below-average wages.

Claim severity for home health care services was found to be about average. Home health care severity is likely to be higher than severity at nursing homes and retirement living facilities, NCCI said. The reason given was a high share of more serious injury from motor vehicle accidents.

From 1997-2004, NCCI said average wage benefit cost for injured long-term care workers was $8,000 compared with $12,000 for other industries. Average medical cost was slightly above $2,000, while it was more than $3,000 for other industries.

The study found also that:

o Back strains from lifting are an even greater share of claims in long-term care than for all other industries, 23 percent vs. 12 percent.

o The long-term care industry also has a significant exposure to injuries resulting from assaults by patients--these types of assaults are on the rise.

NCCI noted that the U.S. population, age 65 and older, is expected to grow by 17 million, or 68 percent, from 2006 to 2020, as the total population grows almost 13 percent. For those in the 75-84 age range, growth is expected to be 20 percent, and 36 percent for 85 and older.

"This will increase the demand for services in the long-term care industry, including nursing home care, retirement living centers and home health care. That will, in turn, increase employment and workers' compensation exposure in these industries," the report said.

NCCI mentioned that two of the top five industries projected to be the fastest growing through 2014 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are in the long-term care industry.

The number-one position in terms of employment growth projected was home health care services. The home health care sector, according to BLS, will increase more than 69 percent.

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