Workers' Compensation: Benefits, Coverage, and Costs, 2006

The direct cost burden of 13years of disabling workplace injuries in the U.S. (1998–2010): Findings from the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index

“…2.3. National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) estimate of total WC costs We adjusted the total national count results for potential undercount using the annual NASI cost estimate which includes all WC medical and indemnity annual benefits (Mont, Burton, & Reno, 2000;Sengupta, Reno, Burton, & Baldwin, 2012), based on input from state agencies. The NASI estimate includes benefits paid to workers excluded from the BLS survey.…”

“…The NASI estimate is a calendar year estimate while the BLS × LM-derived estimate is an incident year estimate. Equilibrium or a steady state should cause these two estimates to converge (Burton, 2005;Leigh & Du, 2012;Sengupta, Reno, & Burton, 2005).…”

Understanding the Probability of a Disability Resulting From Work-Related Injuries

“…For example, workers' compensation programs paid approximately $61.9 billion in medical and wage replacement benefits in 2010, with 25% of the injuries accounting for 94% of the costs. 5 Similarly, 11% of injuries reported under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) involved a disability and incurred an average of approximately $20,000 in wage replacement and medical benefits in the first year-much greater than the $3000 average across all reported injuries (authors' calculations). Here are below, we refer to injuries, which are sudden events, and illnesses, which develop over time, collectively as injuries when the distinction is not relevant.…”

American Medical Association Impairment Ratings and Earnings Losses Due to Disability

“…For example, workers' compensation permanent partial disability benefits were $19 billion in the United States in 2009. 1 With such large sums at stake, ensuring that compensation is assigned fairly and matches individuals' economic losses is a major policy objective.…”