The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Research Bureau (WCIRB) released a study that noted the effects of the Affordable Care Act on workers’ comp.

The UC Berkeley Center of Labor Research and Education reported that 2.5 million workers got health insurance through the ACA, a 14 percent increase in the number of California workers who were covered by health insurance.

The WCIRB report measured the impact of increased access to health care on workers’ comp, specifically access to care, fees for medical services, claim frequency in industries most affected by the ACA and any change in diagnostic mix related to comorbidities. They used data from WCIRB’s Medical Data Call (MDC) and Unit Statistical Reports (USR) to compare claims for pre-ACA accident year 2013 to claims for post-ACA accident years 2014 and 2015. The MDC database includes 160 million transactions submitted from 45 insurer groups representing over 90 percent of the state’s workers’ comp premiums. They did not use self-insured workers’ comp data in California.

They found there was an impact on soft tissue injuries. After the ACA, the share of claims with soft tissue injuries decreased in small businesses (less than 50 full-time employees) and industries with lower levels of health insurance (agriculture, restaurants and retail for example). About 19 percent of claims had soft tissue injuries, and the share of soft tissue claims decreased by 12 percent in industries with lower levels of health coverage prior to the ACA, and the share increased by 17.1 percent in industries with higher levels of health coverage.

The share of claims with comorbidities of hypertension, obesity and diabetes decreased in these industries as well, and the share did not change in industries with higher levels of coverage. Claims with comorbidities did not decrease more in small businesses relative to large businesses. Authors noted that WCIRB information on comorbidities is limited and stated that it was not possible to draw a meaningful conclusion related to comorbidities.

There was no a clear pattern for increased physician fees charged for workers’ comp medical services relative to fee schedule after the ACA. Access to care for injured workers did not change, the average wait time for the first physician visit remained at one day. There also was no indication of an impact on overall claim frequency due to the ACA in industries more likely to be affected by the implementation.

Read the study from WCIRB here.