Health care costs fall in Texas
- Overall health care costs decreased from 2012 to 2022 in Texas, according to the state’s Department of Insurance’s Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group’s new report analyzing medical utilization and cost in the Texas workers’ compensation system between 2012 and 2022
- Total healthcare costs declined 30%, from $1.15 billion in 2012 to $812 million in 2022. The total number of claims decreased 20% from 319,000 to 256,000. The average cost per claim dropped 12%, from $3,611 to $3,169.
- The total cost of professional and hospital/institutional services in 2022 was 24% lower than the cost in 2012 using current prices, but it was 41% lower if adjusted for inflation.
- Total professional costs decreased 26%, from $657 million in 2012 to $483 million in 2022. The number of claims receiving professional services decreased 19%, from 301,000 to 244,000. The average cost for professional services declined 9% from $2,181 per claim to $1,982 in 2022.
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Md. Appellate Court rules rules on workplace death, Workers’ Compensation Act,
- The Maryland Appellate Court ruled a contracting business’s liability for an employee’s death is exclusively within the Workers’ Compensation Act,
- The court dismissed a wrongful death claim filed by Summer Ledford, the daughter of an employee of Jenway Contracting who fell to his death at work.
- In dismissing Ledford’s claim, the appeals court affirmed the Baltimore County Circuit Court.
- The Maryland Appellate Court wrote: “We find nothing inherently wrong with construing the Workers’ Compensation Act.”
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‘Comorbidities’ impacting workers’ comp
- Comorbidities, classified as hypertension, arthritis, sleep dysfunction, depression, and anxiety or panic disorders, are common in worker’s comp cases involving lower back pain, according to a report from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).
- Identifying these comorbidities and their impact on recovery may help workers’ comp stakeholders better understand which low back pain cases are more likely to have poorer outcomes and potentially adapt treatments for workers with high-risk comorbidities, said Ramona Tanabe, president and CEO of WCRI.
- Workplace stress specifically makes chronic musculoskeletal pain worse.
- Chronic pain can lead to depression, and vice versa.
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Georgia Chick-fil-A worker injured in drive-thru lane
- Chick-fil-A location in Dublin, Georgia, shut down after one of its employees was pinned between two cars.
- A female employee was in the drive-thru lane when she was hit by a car and pinned between two cars.
- The driver of a Volkswagen told officers he was stopped in the drive-thru lane when his car jerked forward and accelerated, pinning the woman between his car and the Ford Explorer in front of them.
- The employee was transported to an area hospital where she was treated for a broken leg.
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