Study: Cost Controls Will Result in 'Case Shifting' to Comp

Cost-control measures implemented in response to the Affordable Care Act could result in millions of dollars in medical claims being shifted from group health plans to state workers’ compensation systems, according to a study released Tuesday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The WCRI study says the shift would occur as a result of more group health plans paying physicians through a capitated arrangement, in which the doctor receives a set amount per patient, no matter what treatment is provided. In response, a doctor treating an injury such as nonspecific back pain m...