This study provides new insights into a long-standing policy discussion over whether the choice of provider in workers’ compensation cases should be left to workers or to employers.

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It examines how provider choice policies may be associated with costs of workers’ compensation claims. The study focuses on policies since these can be influenced directly by policymakers and they are informative about the likely consequences of different policies regarding provider choice.

This study observes the effects of provider choice policies on workers’ compensation costs for injuries that occurred mostly between 2007 and 2010 across 25 states in which either employers or workers control the choice of provider. It excludes states where workers can choose a provider within their employers’ established network.

The Effects of Provider Choice Policies on Workers’ Compensation Costs. David Neumark and Bogdan Savych. April 2017. WC-17-21.

Copyright: WCRI