Louisiana workers compensation sees few claims but high costs

Louisiana workers compensation - Worker - Construction

Employees in the state are less likely to be injured than in any other place across the country.

The Louisiana workers compensation program functions in a curious way. Despite the fact that employees in the state are less likely to be injured than those in any other state, the coverage still comes with high costs.

The costs of workers compensation insurance in the state have been steadily falling for years.

Comparing the cost of Louisiana workers compensation clearly shows that the actual costs are dropping. In fact, this has been occurring for a couple of decades. However, when compared to the rest of the country, the expense has not fallen at pace with the rest of the country. Even though its safety ratings are astounding, a series of studies all show that Louisiana employers are forking out more for workers compensation insurance than equivalent employers in other states.

When examining the workers compensation premiums, the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services ranked the state as tenth most expensive based on 2016 figures, the most recent figures from the department. Equally, a 2018 study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute showed that Louisiana’s cost per claim was among the highest and fastest growing in the country, when compared to 18 other U.S. states.

The high cost of Louisiana workers compensation helps to explain why safety is very important to employers.

“We have the lowest incident frequency rates, and we can attribute that to employers who emphasize safety because workers’ comp costs can be so high,” said Patrick Robinson, an attorney at Allen & Gooch quoted by Business Report. Robinson is also a former Office of Workers’ Compensation director, and a former workers compensation district judge.

Many have been investigating the reason that the costs are as high as they are in the state. Among the issues most commonly considered to be to blame include the costly medical treatment prices as well as the outdated fee schedule. That schedule is responsible for setting the reimbursement rates for healthcare providers in the state.

That said, others are looking to the claim duration. That cost is driven higher as a result of the heavy attorney Louisiana workers compensation - Worker - Constructioninvolvement throughout the workers compensation system in the state, which is highly complex.

It is easy to believe that there may not be a single reason driving Louisiana workers compensation higher. It may instead be the combination of all these very valid reasons that can force prices upward.

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