Workers' compensation costs in Illinois were among the highestof 14 states studied prior to the enactment of 2005 Illinoisreforms, according to a new study by the Workers CompensationResearch Institute.

The study examined the performance of the Illinois system priorto the implementation of legislative changes. The Cambridge,Mass.-based WCRI said the report provides baselines for evaluatingthe impact of those reforms in the next few years.

Before the 2005 legislative changes, the average total cost perclaim in Illinois was 31 percent higher than the 14-state medianfor injuries arising in 2002 with experience through part of 2005,WCRI said.

The major reasons for this result, WCRI found, were much highermedical payments per claim and a higher percentage of moreseriously injured workers--those who lost more than a week of work(6 percentage points higher than the 14-state median).

Illinois also experienced double-digit growth in total cost perclaim over most of the study period prior to the reforms. In themost recent year, costs per claim were growing in Illinois atnearly double the rate of the median study state.

The major driver, the report said, was the sustained growth inmedical costs per claim--at or near double-digit rates eachyear.

The average medical payment per claim in Illinois was among thehighest of study states at more than 60 percent higher than the14-state median.

Although the average payment for lost wages--known as indemnitybenefits--per claim with more than seven days of lost time inIllinois was typical of the other study states, this result maskedoffsetting factors.

The average duration of temporary disability was somewhatshorter in Illinois than in the median of the study states, butIllinois had a higher average weekly temporary total disability(TTD) benefit rate--in part the result of a higher-than-typicalstatutory maximum weekly benefit, WCRI reported.