How Do Claim Costs, Components of Costs, and Worker Outcomes Differ by Age?

Cambridge, MA (WorkersCompensation.com) - As the American workforce ages and workers are more likely to continue working into their later years, a new FlashReport from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) explores how injury rates, claim costs, the main components of claim costs, and postinjury worker outcomes differ by age.

“Our goal is to help system stakeholders consider possible challenges from changes in the age distribution of the workforce,” said John Ruser, president and CEO of WCRI. “This includes both the aging of the workforce and the entry of smaller groups of younger workers. Readers can use this information to create a balanced picture of how multiple metrics of workers’ compensation performance differ by age and how these metrics may vary with changes in external age-related factors shaping the population and the labor force.”

Below is a sample of the findings from the FlashReport ─ How Do Claim Costs, Components of Costs, and Worker Outcomes Differ by Age?

• Average medical and indemnity payments per claim increase with age, for claims with more than seven days of lost time at 36 months of maturity.
• The medical payment increase for those aged 65 and older is driven by lower extremity fractures that require inpatient stays.
• Younger workers are more likely to be injured when coming into contact with equipment, while older workers are more likely to be injured in falls. Similarly, younger workers are more likely to have cuts, while accidents for older workers are more likely to result in fractures.

To learn more about this study or to purchase a copy, visit FlashReport - How Do Claim Costs, Components of Costs, and Worker Outcomes Differ by Age?  Bogdan Savych and John Ruser authored the study.

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