Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) releases CompScope Medical Benchmarks for Michigan, 18th Edition.
WCRI has published its CompScope Medical Benchmarks for Michigan, 18th Edition. This report is designed to help policymakers and other stakeholders evaluate state workers’ compensation systems.
The study looked at medical payments, prices, and utilization in Michigan compared with 17 states (Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin) over a period from 2010 through 2015.
Michigan had among the lowest medical payments per claim in the study. It was also found that prices were stable over a 5-year period. The relatively low medical payments and stable prices were likely due to our fee schedule.
Our 2 cents on low prices
Medical providers are hesitant to accept patients on workers’ compensation insurance. It can be challenging to get medical treatment authorized. Telephone calls to claims adjusters frequently go unanswered. Bills are routinely disputed.
Michigan law requires providers to accept payment based upon a fee schedule. This is known as “cost containment” and charges must be submitted on a CMS 1500 or UB-92 claim form. Insurance companies will not process bills without these forms and payment gets delayed.
Medical payments under cost containment are sometimes just a fraction of what is billed. Some doctors have given up accepting workers’ compensation insurance and this limits options for people hurt on-the-job. It is important to keep medical costs down but not at the expense of quality care. Policymakers in Michigan would be wise to remember this fact.
Michigan Workers Comp Lawyers never charges a fee to evaluate a potential case. Our law firm has represented injured and disabled workers exclusively for more than 35 years. Call (855) 221-2667 for a free consultation today.
Related information:
Hurt yourself at work? That will be $8,502.43 for the emergency room visit.
Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by CarbonNYC [in SF!].
