Analyzing Workers’ Compensation Claims and Payments Made Using Data from a Large Insurance Provider

Navneet Kaur Baidwan, Nathan W. Carroll, Bunyamin Ozaydin and Neeraj Puro
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Navneet Kaur Baidwan: Department of Health Administration, School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
Nathan W. Carroll: Department of Health Administration, School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
Bunyamin Ozaydin: Department of Health Administration, School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
Neeraj Puro: Health Administration Programs, School of Business, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-12

Abstract: Background: All states in the USA have established Workers’ Compensation (WC) insurance systems/programs. WC systems address key occupational safety and health concerns. This effort uses data from a large insurance provider for the years 2011–2018 to provide estimates for WC payments, stratified by the claim severity, i.e., medical only, and indemnity. Methods: Besides providing descriptive statistics, we used generalized estimating equations to analyze the association between the key injury characteristics (nature, source, and body part injured) and total WC payments made. We also provide the overall cost burden for the former. Results: Out of the total 151,959 closed claims, 83% were medical only. The mean overall WC payment per claim for the claims that resulted in a payment was $1477 (SD: $7221). Adjusted models showed that mean payments vary by claim severity. For example, among medical only claims, the mean payment was the highest for amputations ($3849; CI: $1396, $10,608), and among disability and death related claims, ruptures cost the most ($14,285; $7772, $26,255). With frequencies taken into account, the overall cost burden was however the highest for strains. Conclusions: Workplace interventions should prioritize both the costs of claims on average and the frequency.

Keywords: Workers’ Compensation; injuries; payments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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