The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) released their report “Workers’ Compensation Benefits, Costs, and Coverage (2017 Data)” which shows that even though covered employment and wages have increased, benefits paid to injured workers have continued to decline. This report is an annual summary of workers’ compensation benefits, coverage and employer costs around the country.

In 2017, $62 billion in workers’ comp benefits were paid but medical benefits declined almost 20% between 2013 and 2017, and cash benefits declined just under 17% in that time.

They found that employee coverage has increased over the past two decades, while employer costs have decreased from $1.50 per $100 of covered wages in 1997, to $1.25 in 2017. As a percentage of covered wages employer’s costs were down 8.8% from 2013 even though their overall payments in 2017 increased 9.1% since 2013. Worker benefits decreased from $1.17 twenty years ago to $.80 per $100 of covered wages in 2017.

Les Boden, Chair of the Academy Study Panel on Workers’ Compensation Data and co-author of the report, said that the good news is that costs and benefits may have fallen because of improved safety at work. But there is evidence that suggests injured workers are not receiving cash benefits and care they need and that some states may be achieving lower benefits by shifting costs, rather than improving safety.

The report also found that covered jobs increased in all jurisdictions except Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. Covered wages increased in all jurisdictions except Wyoming. Benefits per $100 of covered wages decreased in all jurisdictions except Missouri and Hawaii, where they increased by $0.09 and $.04, respectively. Costs per $100 of covered wages, or standardized costs, decreased in all but five jurisdictions, with the largest percent decrease (38.3 percent) in Oklahoma.

Read more here and here, and look at the full report here.