American Medical Association Impairment Ratings and Earnings Losses Due to Disability

Seabury, Seth A.; Neuhauser, Frank W.; Nuckols, Teryl K.

doi:10.1097/jom.0b013e3182794417

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Comparing benefit levels to empirical estimates of earnings losses has become a standard approach to assessing the adequacy of workers' compensation benefits [Hunt, ; National Academy of Social Insurance, ]. Past studies from U.S. jurisdictions have often found that injured workers experience significant losses from work related injuries and that the replacement of lost earnings was low on average [Berkowitz and Burton, ; Biddle, ; Boden and Galizzi, 1999, 2003; Reville, ; Bhattacharya et al, ; Seabury et al, ]. However, prior studies have faced data limitations that could affect their assessments of benefit adequacy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using linked federal and state data to study the adequacy of workers' compensation benefits

Seabury

Scherer

O'Leary

et al. 2014

American J Industrial Med

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BackgroundWe combined federal and state administrative data to study the long-term earnings losses associated with occupational injuries and assess the adequacy of workers’ compensation benefits.MethodsWe linked state data on workers’ compensation claims from New Mexico for claimants injured from 1994-2000 to federal earnings records from 1987-2007. We estimated earnings losses up to 10 years after injury and computed the fraction of losses replaced by benefits.ResultsWorkers with lost-time injuries lost an average of 15% of their earnings over the 10 years after injury. On average, workers’ compensation income benefits replaced 16% of these losses. Men and women had similar losses and replacement rates. Workers with minor injuries had lower losses but also had lower replacement rates.ConclusionEarnings losses after an injury are highly persistent, even for comparatively minor injuries. Income benefits replace a smaller fraction of those losses than previously believed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using linked federal and state data to study the adequacy of workers' compensation benefits

Seabury

Scherer

O'Leary

et al. 2014

American J Industrial Med

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“…(1, 2) Studies focusing on the economic consequences of disabilities resulting from injuries in the workplace have found that workers lose up to 30 percent of their earnings even years after an injury. (3–5)…”

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Racial And Ethnic Differences In The Frequency Of Workplace Injuries And Prevalence Of Work-Related Disability

2017

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Occupational injuries and illnesses lead to significant healthcare costs and productivity losses for millions of workers each year. This study tested for differences in the risk of workplace injuries and the prevalence of work-related disabilities for minorities compared to non-Hispanic white workers using national survey data. Non-Hispanic black workers and foreign-born Hispanic workers worked in jobs with the highest injury risk on average, even adjusting for education and gender. These elevated levels of workplace injury risk led to a significant increase in the prevalence of work-related disabilities for non-Hispanic black and Hispanic workers. These findings suggest that disparities in economic opportunities expose minorities to greater risk of workplace injury and disability.

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“…The Functional Comorbidity Index was almost certainly underestimated, because diagnoses unrelated to the WC injury may not be reported to WC for billing purposes 38 . The WBI variable was essentially a lower bound estimate, 8 and the strength of association between impairment ratings and economic losses varies by jurisdiction and rating system 20,54‐57 . Although there is evidence that impairment ratings are associated with earnings losses, 56 there is also strong evidence that impairment ratings are inaccurate representations of work disability and at best explain a small amount of related earnings losses 54,55,57 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial return to work and long‐term employment patterns: Associations with work‐related permanent impairment and with participation in workers' compensation‐based return‐to‐work programs

Sears

Fulton‐Kehoe

Hogg‐Johnson

2021

American J Industrial Med

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Background Roughly 10% of injured workers experience work injuries that result in permanent impairment and a permanent partial disability (PPD) award. This study aimed to characterize and quantify long‐term employment outcomes for injured workers, by the degree of whole body impairment (WBI) and by participation in several workers' compensation (WC)‐based return‐to‐work (RTW) programs. Methods A retrospective cohort of 43,968 Washington State workers were followed for up to 10 years after WC claim closure (2009–2017). Degree of impairment was classified as: (1) no PPD award, (2) PPD award with WBI < 10%, or (3) PPD award with WBI ≥ 10%. State wage files were used to construct employment outcomes for regression, modeling: (1) time to first RTW, (2) time to first RTW interruption, (3) RTW volatility, and (4) employment gaps. Results Wage patterns and employment outcomes differed significantly by the degree of impairment. Compared to other workers, workers with WBI ≥ 10% had delayed RTW, shorter average times to first RTW interruption, and higher rates of both RTW interruptions and quarters without wages. Time to first RTW averaged over a year, increasing with the degree of impairment. About 9% overall—and 27% of workers with ≥10% WBI—had no observed wages after claim closure. In adjusted models, workers with WBI ≥ 10% had significantly poorer employment outcomes, compared to workers with no PPD award (p < 0.001). Conclusions State wage files provide an efficient approach to identifying RTW patterns. Workers with permanent impairment were at substantially higher risk of poor employment outcomes. WC‐based RTW programs may promote better employment outcomes.

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American Medical Association Impairment Ratings and Earnings Losses Due to Disability

Abstract: Impairment ratings are accurate predictors of disability severity on average, but their ability to measure disability could be improved with additional information on how the relationship between ratings and earnings loss varies according to patient and injury characteristics.

Cited by 14 publications

References 24 publications

Using linked federal and state data to study the adequacy of workers' compensation benefits

Using linked federal and state data to study the adequacy of workers' compensation benefits

Racial And Ethnic Differences In The Frequency Of Workplace Injuries And Prevalence Of Work-Related Disability

Initial return to work and long‐term employment patterns: Associations with work‐related permanent impairment and with participation in workers' compensation‐based return‐to‐work programs

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