WCRI Study Shows Medical Costs Remain High Despite Fee Schedule

Medical payments per claim in Illinois remained the highest of a 16-state study group two years after introduction of the state’s first workers’ compensation medical fee schedules in 2006, the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) reports.High levels of physical medicine services appeared to be a major factor, the study said.The 11th edition of WCRI’s “CompScope Medical Benchmarks for Illinois” shows that using 2008-2009 claims with more than seven days of lost time, and 12 months of experience, “the growth in medical payments per claim &hell...