The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute recently released a study that evaluated workers’ compensation claims in 18 states. According to the study, Texas ranked as the third lowest in average workers’ comp costs compared to the other states, just behind Tennessee and North Carolina.
About the Study
The study measured changes in workers’ compensation claims costs from 2012 to 2017 that involved claims with more than seven days of lost employee time for employees with at least one year of experience as of March 2018.
Findings of the Study
The study revealed that the trends in workers’ comp claims in Texas are different than in many of the other states that were analyzed. Most of the states other than Texas realized increases of approximately 2.8% during the five-year period of the study. In comparison, Texas had the lowest total costs per claim for 2015 claims that had three years’ worth of maturity.
The majority of the study’s findings related to Texas are that Texas’ costs for these claims have held steady. However, medical payouts for Texas claims went down five percent each year from 2015 to 2017. In comparison, many other states realized increased or unchanged in the other states that were part of the comparison.
Another area that realized a decline in costs was indemnity benefits per claim. This area decreased slightly from 2015 to 2017. Many other states saw an increased rate for this area. Texas’ benefits per claim were 28 percent lower than the median state. Researchers believe that this is due to several factors, one important one being that the lump-sum payments for permanent partial disability claims were the lowest in this state than other states. Texas does not allow lump-sum settlements because the state does not allow a lump-sum payment to cover liability for future expenses. Additionally, Texas had a 4% annual decline in benefit delivery expenses.
Other Texas Workers’ Comp Statistics
The Texas Department of Insurance Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group completed its own study in 2018 to determine how effective the state system is in providing proper medical care to injured employees in a prompt manner. It discovered that 84% of injured Texas workers received their initial care within seven days of their work-related injury. Since 2005, the number of patients per physician in the workers’ compensation system decreased by almost one-quarter. This has led to improved healthcare options for injured employees, according to the study.
Help with Texas Workers’ Comp Claims
If you were injured at work, it is important that you have legal assistance in making your claim. An experienced workers’ compensation attorney can guide you through this process, determine the full extent of your injury and fight for maximum compensation for your workers’ comp claim. Our experienced Texas workers’ compensation lawyers can also help with an appeal if your work-related injury claim is denied. Contact us today to schedule a free and confidential consultation.
