Biomaterial Database

Medical costs in workers' compensation insurance. 1995

L C Baker, and A B Krueger

Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305, USA.

We examine whether patients covered by workers' compensation insurance, which covers the cost of medical care for injured workers without cost sharing and with relatively little oversight, are charged more for treatment or receive more services than patients covered by traditional insurance. Our findings indicate that workers compensation recipients are charged more for treatment. This difference persists in individual services--workers' compensation recipients are charged more per X-ray and per examination than our patients. We consider different explanations and argue that price discrimination probably plays a role.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007348	Insurance, Health	Insurance providing coverage of medical, surgical, or hospital care in general or for which there is no specific heading.	Group Health Insurance,Health Insurance,Health Insurance, Voluntary,Health Insurance, Group,Health Insurances,Insurance, Group Health,Insurance, Voluntary Health,Insurances, Health,Voluntary Health Insurance
D008910	Minnesota	State bordered on the north by Canada, on the east by Lake Superior and Wisconsin, on the south by Iowa, and on the west by North Dakota and South Dakota.
D005251	Fees, Medical	Amounts charged to the patient as payer for medical services.	Fee, Medical,Medical Fee,Medical Fees
D006302	Health Services Research	The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)	Health Care Research,Medical Care Research,Research, Health Services,Action Research,Health Services Evaluation,Healthcare Research,Research, Medical Care,Evaluation, Health Services,Evaluations, Health Services,Health Services Evaluations,Research, Action,Research, Health Care,Research, Healthcare
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000062	Accidents, Occupational	Unforeseen occurrences, especially injuries in the course of work-related activities.	Accidents, Industrial,Industrial Accidents,Occupational Accidents,Accident, Industrial,Accident, Occupational,Industrial Accident,Occupational Accident
D012720	Severity of Illness Index	Levels within a diagnostic group which are established by various measurement criteria applied to the seriousness of a patient's disorder.	Illness Index Severities,Illness Index Severity
D014942	Workers' Compensation	Insurance coverage providing compensation and medical benefits to individuals because of work-connected injuries or disease.	Workmen's Compensation,Worker's Compensation,Workman's Compensation,Compensation, Worker's,Compensation, Workers',Compensation, Workman's,Compensation, Workmen's,Compensations, Worker's,Compensations, Workers',Compensations, Workman's,Compensations, Workmen's,Worker Compensation,Worker's Compensations,Workers Compensation,Workers' Compensations,Workman Compensation,Workman's Compensations,Workmans Compensation,Workmen Compensation,Workmen's Compensations,Workmens Compensation
D017048	Health Care Costs	The actual costs of providing services related to the delivery of health care, including the costs of procedures, therapies, and medications. It is differentiated from HEALTH EXPENDITURES, which refers to the amount of money paid for the services, and from fees, which refers to the amount charged, regardless of cost.	Medical Care Costs,Treatment Costs,Costs, Medical Care,Health Costs,Healthcare Costs,Cost, Health,Cost, Health Care,Cost, Healthcare,Cost, Medical Care,Cost, Treatment,Costs, Health,Costs, Health Care,Costs, Healthcare,Costs, Treatment,Health Care Cost,Health Cost,Healthcare Cost,Medical Care Cost,Treatment Cost
D054598	Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans	Prepaid health and hospital insurance plan.	Blue Cross,Blue Shield,Blue Crosses,Blue Shields,Cross, Blue,Crosses, Blue,Shield, Blue,Shields, Blue