Inappropriate claims are a major component of the
workers' compensation problem. As many as 25 percent of all filings may have
some element of impropriety. There are many possible causes, including
misunderstandings, honest mistakes, cost shifting from non-occupational
health care, employee resentment, unscrupulous service providers, and outright
fraud…The key problem has not been the amount charged per visit but the
number of visits per claim…When medical services are over-utilized, employers
must foot the bill, but employees suffer, too. The longer
they stay out of work, the more likely they are to perceive
themselves as disabled and the harder it becomes for them to re-establish the
discipline of being in the workplace eight hours a day.
- Stanton Long, Esq