Waltham, MA, May 16, 2024―Since medical costs are a constant focus for policymakers and system stakeholders in state workers’ compensation systems, the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) has released an updated version of its annual study that provides comparisons of prices paid for medical professional services across 36 states from 2008 to 2023.

“Unlike other indices measuring how prices for professional services change, this index is a more relevant benchmark of medical inflation in workers’ compensation as it focuses on those services commonly provided to workers with injuries,” said Ramona Tanabe, WCRI’s president and CEO. “Since workers’ compensation price regulations are set at the state level, this study provides a state-level price index to help policymakers and stakeholders conduct meaningful comparisons of prices paid across states and to monitor price trends in relation to changes in fee schedules.”

The study, WCRI Medical Price Index for Workers’ Compensation, 16th Edition (MPI-WC), focuses on professional services (evaluation and management, physical medicine, surgery, major and minor radiology, neurological testing, pain management injections, and emergency care) billed by physicians, physical therapists, and chiropractors. The following are among the study’s findings:

• Prices paid for professional services varied significantly across states, ranging from 33 percent below the 36-state median in Florida to 162 percent above the 36-state median in Wisconsin in 2023.
• States with no fee schedules for professional services had higher prices paid compared with states with fee schedules—36 to 169 percent higher than the median of the study states with fee schedules in 2023.
• Most states with no fee schedules experienced faster growth in prices paid for professional services compared with states with fee schedules—the median growth rate of states with and without fee schedules was 13 percent and 36 percent, respectively, from 2008 to 2023.
• This study also provides details on price changes, overall and by service type, following major fee schedule changes.

This edition covers 36 states that represent 88 percent of the workers’ compensation benefits paid in the United States. These states are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The authors of this study are Dr. Rebecca Yang and Dr. Olesya Fomenko.

To download a free copy of this report, visit WCRI’s website at https://www.wcrinet.org.

About WCRI

The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Waltham, MA. Organized in 1983, the Institute does not take positions on the issues it researches. It provides information obtained through studies and data collection efforts that conform to recognized scientific methods. Objectivity is further ensured through rigorous, unbiased peer review procedures. WCRI's diverse membership includes employers, insurers, governmental entities, managed care companies, health care providers, insurance regulators, state labor organizations, and state administrative agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

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