Report Card Shows Networks Treating Nearly Half of Claimants

Health care networks are providing medical care to nearly half of Texas workers' compensation claimants, for about the same cost as non-network providers but with better return-to-work rates and fewer days of lost time, according to the annual Network Report Card posted online by the Texas Department of Insurance last week. Networks provided care to 48% of injured workers as of March 1, up from 42% last year and 20% in 2010, according to the report. The average cost of network medical care was $2,767, only slightly more than the $2,734 average cost for non-network care. That is a sharp co...