Ohio Workers’ Compensation Payments Declined as a Share of Payroll in 2004

New Reports Track 15 Year Trend in Payments

For Immediate Release: July 26, 2006
Contact: Jill Braunstein at (202) 452-8097

To download the full report, click here.
To download a brief for the state of Ohio, click here.

WASHINGTON, DC – After three years of growth, Ohio workers’ compensation payments declined in 2004 as a share of workers’ wages, according to two studies released today by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). Compared to the wages of workers covered by the program, total benefit payments fell by 5 cents per $100 of payroll—from $1.35 per $100 in 2003 to $1.30 per $100 in 2004, the latest year for which data are available. The decrease relative to wages occurred both in payments to providers of medical care and in cash payments to injured workers.

Over the past 15 years, workers’ compensation payments in Ohio have broadly followed national trends. Payments peaked as a fraction of covered payroll in the early 1990s and then declined through 2000. Since 2000, payments have increased modestly.

In relation to payroll, Ohio payments for workers’ compensation are above the U.S. average. While benefits in Ohio were $1.30 per $100 of state covered payroll in 2004, national benefits were $1.13 per $100 of covered payroll.

More details may be found in the two documents released today by NASI. Workers’ Compensation: Benefits, Coverage, and Costs, 2004 is the ninth report in a series on workers’ compensation that provides the only comprehensive national data on these state-run programs. Workers’ Compensation in Ohio: Benefits and Coverage, 2004 compares recent trends in workers’ compensation for Ohio and the nation as a whole. Both items are available on NASI’s website, www.nasi.org.

EXPERTS TO CONTACT:

Ishita Sengupta
National Academy of Social Insurance
(202) 452-8097
isengupta@nasi.org

John F. Burton, Jr.
Study Panel Chair
Rutgers University
(732) 274-0600
jfburton@rci.rutgers.edu

Allan Hunt
Assistant Executive Director
W.E.Upjohn Institute
(269) 343-5541
hunt@upjohninstitute.org

Jim Ellenberger
worker perspective
Former Deputy Commissioner
Virginia Employment Commission
(703) 938-8349
ellenbergerjn@cs.com

Robert Steggert
employer perspective
Marriott International, Inc.
(301) 380-7499
bob.steggert@marriott.com

Eric Nordman
National Association of Insurance Commissioners
(816) 783-8005
enordman@naic.org

Greg Krohm
International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC)
(608) 663-6355
gkrohm@iaiabc.org

The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization made up of the nation’s leading experts on social insurance. Its mission is to promote understanding and informed policymaking on social insurance and related programs through research, public education, training, and the open exchange of ideas.

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