NCCI Details Cost Drivers In Comp Medical Claims

The National Council on Compensation Insurance in a new report examining worker injury medical treatment said it has found notable differences between small and large claims in the mix of services involved.

NCCI, based in Boca Raton, Fla., said office visits and emergency services dominate the smaller claims, while surgery and anesthesia are a larger share of the $5,000-to-$100,000 claims than of other claim sizes.

The study found that hospital services and prescription drugs comprise more than 50 percent of the cost of claims that are greater than $100,000.

The varying mix of services by claim size, NCCI said, has implications for the payout rates by type of service.

It found that office visits, physical therapy and emergency services have relatively fast payout patterns, while hospital services and prescription drugs have relatively slow payout patterns.

At this point, NCCI said, large claims might be subject to greater inflation than smaller claims.

NCCI said it was interesting that surgery and anesthesia costs represent a larger share of total medical costs for claims in the $5000-to-$100,000 range when compared with either larger or smaller claim sizes.