With the passage of the stimulus bill, it’s timeti consider the implications fir workers comp. I’ll get to the details next week, but there are a few broad statements we can make today.
First, the unemployment rate will not drop much more. Comp insurers, Occ Med clinics, managed care firms and TPAs started feeling the effect of a rapid drop in frequency last summer, a drop that would have accelerated throughout this year. For carriers, the decline was good news/bad news, as fewer claims meant lower claims expense, while fewer employees produced lower premiums.
The funding for COBRA and Medicaid will help keep folks insured, thereby decreasing cost shifting (below what it would have been without the bill). This is very good news indeed; although it is impossible to calculate what cost shifting would have done to comp, it would undoubtedly have driven medical costs up significantly.
Over the long term the effectiveness research funding will be a big help to payers and providers. Solid guidelines for back injuries will be most welcome.
There’s much more to come.
Feb
13
