Prices paid for medical professional services delivered to injured workers in Connecticut were 19 percent higher in 2014 and 21 percent higher in 2015 than the median for 31 states studied in the latest Medical Price Index for Workers’ Compensation, released today by the Cambridge, Mass.-based Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).
The report notes Connecticut had a fee schedule change in 2015, but it took effect after June 30 and is not reflected in 2015 results, which were based on data through June 30 for all states.
Among the 31 states, prices ranged from 31 percent below the state’s median in Florida to 138 percent above the median in Wisconsin in 2014, with similar findings for those two states in 2015.
Eight states, including Wisconsin, paid a higher percentage above the median than Connecticut in 2014 and seven states paid higher percentage above the median than Connecticut in 2015.
The report tracks medical prices paid in 31 states from calendar year 2008 through 2015 for professional services billed by physicians, physical therapists, and chiropractors. The medical services fall into eight groups: evaluation and management, physical medicine, surgery, major radiology, minor radiology, neurological testing, pain-management injections, and emergency care, WCRI said.
Growth in prices paid for professional services varied tremendously across the states, spanning between minus-18 percent in Illinois and plus-30 percent in Wisconsin between 2008 and 2015, the report said. Connecticut’s growth in prices during that time period was 4 percent.
