Workers’ Comp Payments in Pa. Grew by 3.7% in 2003

In Pennsylvania, total workers’ compensation payments for injured workers’ cash benefits and medical care rose by 3.7 percent to $2,626 million in 2003, according to a report by the National Academy of Social Insurance.

Nationally, workers’ compensation payments grew by 3.2 percent to $54.9 billion in 2003, the latest year for which national data are available.

Over the four years ending in 2003, Pennsylvania spending for medical care for injured workers outpaced spending for cash benefits to replace workers’ lost wages.Payments for workers’ compensation medical treatment rose from 50 cents to 54 cents per $100 of payroll, while cash benefits were fairly stable at 79 to 81 cents per $100 of payroll over the period.

For the nation as a whole, workers’ compensation payments for medical treatment outpaced payments for cash benefits to injured workers. Between 2000 and 2003, national spending for workers’ compensation medical care rose from 45 cents to 54 cents per $100 of national payroll, while payments for cash benefits rose slightly from 59 cents to 62 cents per $100 of national payroll.