After Years of Skyrocketing Costs, Legislation Has Stabilized System, Report Says

Medical and indemnity payments, which grew at 6% a year between 2004 and 2009, have stabilized for the past eight years in North Carolina because of reduced medical reimbursements and a duration cap on temporary disability benefits, a new report says. Medical benefits per claim have decreased since 2013, which could owe to interim fee schedule changes for hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers, says the study, “Monitoring the North Carolina System: CompScope Benchmarks, 17th Edition” by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The decreasing trend in indemnity might be...