OBJECTIVE: Factors associated with private health insurance payment rates for musculoskeletal back disorders were examined among a 15-year cohort of union carpenters. Payment patterns were contrasted with work-related back injury rates over time. METHODS: Negative binomial regression was used to assess payment rates; generalized estimated equations accounted for multiple observations per person and cost correlation within subjects. RESULTS: Payment rates increased after work-related injury and with the number of injuries. Increasing private payments and deductibles (inflation-adjusted and discounted) were observed in contrast with a marked decline in reported work-related injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Private insurance payments do not appear to be independent of work-related back injury. Findings suggest cost-shifting from workers' compensation to the union-provided health insurance and to the worker; they also provide a warning regarding reliance on workers' compensation statistics for surveillance of work-related disorders or disease.
OBJECTIVE: Factors associated with private health insurance payment rates for musculoskeletal back disorders were examined among a 15-year cohort of union carpenters. Payment patterns were contrasted with work-related back injury rates over time. METHODS: Negative binomial regression was used to assess payment rates; generalized estimated equations accounted for multiple observations per person and cost correlation within subjects. RESULTS: Payment rates increased after work-related injury and with the number of injuries. Increasing private payments and deductibles (inflation-adjusted and discounted) were observed in contrast with a marked decline in reported work-related injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Private insurance payments do not appear to be independent of work-related back injury. Findings suggest cost-shifting from workers' compensation to the union-provided health insurance and to the worker; they also provide a warning regarding reliance on workers' compensation statistics for surveillance of work-related disorders or disease.
Authors: Alysha R Meyers; Ibraheem S Al-Tarawneh; Steven J Wurzelbacher; P Timothy Bushnell; Michael P Lampl; Jennifer L Bell; Stephen J Bertke; David C Robins; Chih-Yu Tseng; Chia Wei; Jill A Raudabaugh; Teresa M Schnorr Journal: J Occup Environ Med Date: 2018-01 Impact factor: 2.162
Authors: Steven J Wurzelbacher; Alysha R Meyers; Michael P Lampl; P Timothy Bushnell; Stephen J Bertke; David C Robins; Chih-Yu Tseng; Steven J Naber Journal: J Safety Res Date: 2021-09-17
Authors: Lenore S Azaroff; Letitia K Davis; Robert Naparstek; Dean Hashimoto; James R Laing; David H Wegman Journal: Health Serv Res Date: 2013-02-28 Impact factor: 3.402
Authors: Ann Marie Dale; Daniel Ryan; Laura Welch; Margaret A Olsen; Bryan Buchholz; Bradley Evanoff Journal: Occup Environ Med Date: 2014-09-15 Impact factor: 4.402