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 5 years ending in 2003, New York spending for medical treatment grew faster than aggregate payrolls. Payments for workers' compensation medical treatment rose from 24 cents to 27 cents per $100 of payroll, while cash benefits ranged from 53 to 58 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 1999 and 2003, national spending for workers' compensation medical care rose from 46 cents to 54 cents per $100 of national payroll, while payments for cash benefits fell slightly from 64 to 62 cents per $100 of national payroll.
The report, "Workers' Compensation: Benefits, Coverage, and Costs, 2003," is the eighth in a NASI series that provides the only comprehensive national data on this largely state-run program. The study provides estimates of workers' compensation payments cash and medical for each state, the District of Columbia, and the federal programs providing workers' compensation benefits.
To download a copy of the report, click here.