Formal Return-to-Work Plans Can Put a Dent in Rising Claims Costs, Experts Say

Annual nationwide workers’ comp claims costs have risen by tens of billions of dollars over the past three decades, but employers who maintain formalized return-to-work plans for injured employees can help mitigate cost-drivers such as growing medical costs and expensive litigation, two comp experts said. “Return-to-work plans can keep premiums down,” said Peg Kramer, senior claims counselor at Wisconsin-based Hausmann-Johnson Insurance. Kramer, who has worked in the comp industry for more than 40 years, said the biggest cost drivers used to be weekly indemnity benefits pai...