Workers compensation claims involving employees aged 65 and older require 21% more medical care on average than claims involving younger workers, largely because of chronic health conditions and injury diagnoses, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
The report found that the share of lost-time claims involving workers aged 65 and older doubled from 4% in accident year 2012 to 8% in 2025, according to the Boca Raton, Florida-based ratings agency.
The share of claims involving female workers also increased during the period, rising from 33% to 36%.
NCCI researchers found that differences in medical utilization across age and gender groups are driven primarily by injury diagnoses, treated comorbidities and the types of jobs workers perform, rather than age or gender alone.
For example, a slip-and-fall accident that causes a minor bruise in a younger worker may result in a fracture in an older employee. The resulting increase in medical treatment is attributable to the injury diagnosis and any comorbidities treated during recovery, rather than the worker’s age itself, the report said.
The study also found that claims involving male workers require 28% more medical care on average than those involving female workers.
Researchers attributed the difference primarily to the distribution of men and women across industry classifications and the resulting mix of injury diagnoses, rather than differences in health care-seeking behavior.
NCCI said changing workforce demographics will affect the distribution of injury characteristics and comorbidities, potentially altering expected medical utilization and workers compensation medical severity.
This article was first published by Business Insurance.
