CHSWC Reports System Costs up 13%, Calls for QME Study

Higher indemnity and medical payments in 2012 drove total estimated system costs in California to $18.3 billion, a 13% increase from the $16.2 billion paid the previous year, according to the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation 2013 Annual Report.The report, which includes a recommendation to study ways to improve the panel qualified medical evaluator process, also shows that operational expenses were relegated to the second-largest cost category in 2012, behind medical benefits.Employers paid $7.3 billion in medical benefits in 2012, a 9% increase from the $6.7 billi...