Workers' compensation medical prices were up just 1.8% in March, even as prices rose elsewhere, according to a new report from NCCI.
By comparison, consumer-paid medical costs were up 4% in March, and the Consumer Price Index was up 3.3%.
Workers' compensation medical services tend to follow consumer health prices more closely, and the NCCI said the gap this quarter will be an interesting trend to watch.
NCCI experts said they expect workers' comp prices to start closing the gap as the year progresses. They're expecting an increase of 2.5% in 2026, trending in line with the pace set in 2024 and 2025.
Physician care was up 1.4% year-over-year in March, on par with last year. Hospital outpatient care saw an increase of just 0.9% after steady increases a year ago, but NCCI says it's still expected to see an annual increase in line with the average of about 3.5%.
Hospital inpatient care was up 3.7% year-over-year in March, above the 2015-2019 average increase of 2.1% but in line with the three-year average of 3.9%.
Photo credit: Cagkan Sayin/Adobe Stock
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.