Injured workers in Michigan get less workers’ compensation for medical care than their counterparts in order states, according to a study by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute.
The study examined workers’ comp costs per claim in 14 states – Michigan, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
Lower-than-typical payments for medical care were the leading reason that Michigan’s costs were lower than other states.
The average medical payment per claim in Michigan was 31 percent lower than the median for injuries in other states.
Payments per claim for lost wages were 19 percent lower in Michigan.
There are two reasons for this. The length of time that workers can collect temporary disability benefits in Michigan is four to 15 weeks shorter than in the three other wage-loss states in the study (Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania).
Secondly, some workers received lower benefits and other workers received higher benefits under the Michigan workers’ compensation benefit structure than they would have under a typical benefit structure, according to the researchers.
Tags: workers’ compensation costs, workers’ comp benefits, Workers’ Compensation Research Insitute, Michigan workers’ comp.
