Workers’ compensation in Ohio is a singular matter, as it is in all other states. That is, the state-run programs that exist across the country are anything but cookie-cutter employee compensation systems. There are variances — often meaningful, often material — that exist among the states involving benefit payments, costs to employers, medical care payments, indemnity benefits and many other matters.
A recently released workers’ comp report authored by a Washington, D.C., nonprofit research entity readily bears this out, noting wide variations among the states in many relevant areas concerning workers’ compensation.
The report is the 14th such annual analysis issued by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). The statistics compiled by the organization focus on both national workers’ comp trends and differentiations that exist among the states.
As for the former, what is immediately apparent from NASI’s 2009 report (the most recent available) is the effect of the country’s recent recession on both workers and employees across the nation. The number of employees covered by workers’ comp dropped by 4.4 percent in 2009 compared to 2008, the largest decrease in 20 years. Employer costs also fell to a 20-year low.
Ohio-related statistics follow that trend, with the state paying out less in comp benefits in 2009 than in 2008. Medical and indemnity benefits paid in the state also decreased by 5.5 percent over that one-year span.
Not all states followed suit, though, with some of the other larger states actually paying out more during 2009 than in the immediately preceding year. Those states include Florida, Texas, New York and Illinois.
An on-the-job injury that prevents an employee from working is obviously a serious matter. If you are an Ohio resident who was injured at the workplace and seeking to obtain workers’ comp benefits, contact an attorney experienced in all aspects of workers’ compensation to fully investigate your case and help you obtain the benefits to which you are entitled.
Related Resource: Risk & Insurance, “Employers’ costs for workers’ comp is lowest in decades, NASI reports” Sept. 6, 2011