Total payments for workers’ compensation rose faster than wages in 2002 for the second year in a row, according to a new report released by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). In 2002, total workers’ comp benefits grew by 7.4 percent, for a total of $53.4 billion. Spending for medical care contributed to the increase in total payments. Medical spending rose by 9.4 percent, while cash payments to workers rose by just 5.8 percent. The disparity was due in large part to sluggish wage growth during the recession. The year 2002 saw the slowest growth in wages in more than a decade (0.4 percent) and a decline in the number of covered workers for the second year in a row. Benefits per $100 of wages grew by eight cents to $1.16 in 2002, from $1.08 in 2001, but were still lower than their peak in 1992 when benefits were $1.68 per $100 of wages. The report, Workers’ Compensation: Benefits, Coverage, and Costs, 2002, is the seventh in a NASI series.
Topics Workers' Compensation
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