This study can help policymakers and other system stakeholders interested in the Texas workers’ compensation system identify current cost drivers and emerging trends in a wide variety of workers’ compensation cost components.

This report also allows for meaningful comparisons between Texas and 17 other study states (Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin) on key measures, including income benefits, overall medical payments, costs, use of benefits, duration of disability, litigiousness, benefit delivery expenses, timeliness of payment, permanent partial disability, temporary total disability and other metrics.

Claims with experience through 2016 for injuries up to and including 2015 were analyzed. In some cases, a longer time frame was used to supply historical context to the system. Additionally, the authors demonstrate system performance changes after legislative action for key metrics, specifically the impact of House Bill (HB) 2600 and HB 7 on cost drivers and trends. Information from other WCRI studies was added to provide a more complete picture of the system in Texas.  

CompScope™ Benchmarks for Texas, 17th Edition. Carol A. Telles. April 2017. WC-17-14.