Cambridge, MA, April 29, 2021 – Total costs per claim for claims with more than seven days of lost time were mostly stable in Georgia from 2008 to 2019, according to a recent study published by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).

“Contributing to the trends in total costs per claim in Georgia since 2014, indemnity benefits per claim grew 2-5 percent per year, while medical payments per claim remained fairly stable,” said Ramona Tanabe, executive vice president and general counsel of WCRI.

This 21st edition of CompScope™ Benchmarks for Georgia provides ongoing annual monitoring of how indemnity benefits, medical payments, and benefit delivery expenses per claim change over time, as well as how the Georgia workers’ compensation system compares with other study states on these key metrics. This edition analyzes claims with injury dates between 2014 and 2019 (evaluated as of March 31, 2020).

The following are among the study’s other findings:

• The percentage of workers with benefits limited by the statutory maximum weekly benefit decreased from 31 percent to 22 percent following the implementation of Senate Bill 135, which increased the maximum temporary total disability benefit from $575 to $675.
• Total costs per claim in Georgia for claims with more than seven days of lost time remained higher compared with other study states for 2017 claims with experience through March 2020.
• Higher indemnity benefits per claim and litigation expenses per claim in Georgia were the main drivers of the higher-than-typical total costs per claim.

To learn more about this study or to purchase a copy, visit https://www.wcrinet.org/reports/compscope-benchmarks-for-georgia-21st-edition. William Monnin-Browder authored this study.

About WCRI

The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Cambridge, MA. Organized in late 1983, the Institute does not take positions on the issues it researches; rather, it provides information obtained through studies and data collection efforts, which conform to recognized scientific methods. Objectivity is further ensured through rigorous, unbiased peer review procedures. WCRI's diverse membership includes employers; insurers; governmental entities; managed care companies; health care providers; insurance regulators; state labor organizations; and state administrative agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

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