Study Suggests Delayed Treatment Increases Costs

A study by the Workers' Compensation Research Institute bolsters arguments that prompt and appropriate medical care controls claims costs. The research organization found that the workers' compensation systems in California and Texas experienced far more "adverse surprises" -- meaning cases that ended up costing far more than initially expected -- than other benchmark states, and the result was far higher medical costs. The Cambridge, Mass.-based research group also found that the number of surprise claims nearly tripled in California from 1996 to 2000, starting out at 2.2 percent of all c...