Who is Paying the Bills? Health Care Costs for Musculoskeletal Back Disorders, Washington State Union Carpenters, 1989–2003

Abstract

Private insurance payments do not appear to be independent of work-related back injury. Findings suggest cost-shifting from workers' compensation to the union-provided health insurance and to the worker; they also provide a warning regarding reliance on workers' compensation statistics for surveillance of work-related disorders or disease.

Incidence of workers compensation indemnity claims across socio-demographic and job characteristics

“…They found evidence for cost-shifting from workers compensation claims to private insurance claims. This cost-shifting is consistent with negative correlations between employer-provided health insurance and workers compensation claims [Lipscomb et al, 2009]. Card and McCall [1996] tested whether uninsured workers nevertheless gained workers compensation coverage for injuries sustained off the job.…”

Disparities by ethnicity, language, and immigrant status in occupational health experiences among Las Vegas hotel room cleaners

“…The availability of an employer-sponsored healthcare plan also may have played a role in the low rate of claim filing in our population. Previous research has identified patterns of cost-shifting from workers' compensation to health insurance for occupational health problems [Dong et al, 2007;Lipscomb et al, 2009].…”

Who Pays for Work‐Related Traumatic Injuries? Payer Distribution in Washington State by Ethnicity, Injury Severity, and Year (1998–2008)

“…In 2010, more than 4,500 U.S. workers died from occupational injuries [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2012]. There is some evidence that under-reporting of work-related injuries, particularly for less severe injuries, and cost-shifting from WC to other public or private health care coverage and/or workers themselves is significant and on the rise [Rosenman et al, 2000;Shannon and Lowe, 2002;Morse et al, 2005;Fan et al, 2006;Friedman and Forst, 2007;Lipscomb et al, 2009a]. The total national medical and productivity cost for occupational injuries was recently estimated at $192 billion annually [Leigh, 2011].…”