This annual study compares prices paid for medical professional services across 36 states and monitors price changes from 2008 to 2021, which includes just over a year of medical services delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The objectives of this study are twofold. The first is to help policymakers and stakeholders conduct meaningful comparisons of prices across states and track the price changes in their states. The second objective is to discuss the price comparison results and price trends in relation to the principal policy tool for regulating prices—fee schedules.

The study 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 and occupational therapists, and chiropractors. 

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.

WCRI Medical Price Index for Workers’ Compensation, 14th Edition (MPI-WC). Rebecca Yang and Olesya Fomenko. May 2022. WC-22-19.

(This is a free report. If you have a member user name and password, please log into the website to access this report. All others can access the report for free by adding the report to the shopping cart and going through the checkout process.)

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Copyright: WCRI