Louise Esola writes for Business Insurance:

Workers compensation insurers and claims administrators are monitoring anticipated Medicaid coverage losses amid concerns that more workers without health insurance could turn to workers compensation to pay for medical care, potentially driving up claims costs.

New research from the Workers Compensation Research Institute suggests those concerns are warranted, finding that workers compensation medical payments increased after Medicaid disenrollments in 2023 and 2024, particularly in the construction and manufacturing industries.

The research largely confirms longstanding industry concerns about cost shifting from health coverage to workers compensation, said Brian Allen, Salt Lake City-based vice president of government affairs for Enlyte. “The report kind of confirms what everybody sort of suspected is that some of that cost gets shifted to workers comp,” he said.

Read the full article here.  The new WCRI study is Effect of Losing Medicaid on Workers’ Compensation Benefits.  Visit its page on our website for more information, including on how you can download a copy!