Workers' Comp Settlements Don't Predict Disabilities Accurately

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, January 2, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Just because you get a higher disability rating for a work-related back injury does not mean you are worse off in the long term than someone who gets a lower rating.

A new study of settlement decisions in workers' comp claims reveals almost no relationship between the rating of the disability's severity and reported pain and disability 21 months later. In fact those with higher disability ratings -- which suggest higher severity and less ability to work -- actually fared better than those with lower ratings.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, St. Louis University, and the University of Florida in Gainesville interviewed 580 black and 892 white workers in Missouri an average of 21 months after their worker's comp claim settlements for lower back pain.

The authors write their findings "raise questions about both the validity and the fairness of the current disability determination program. Disability settlements are designed to give people money toward a fresh start. Those settlements do not appear to reflect the residual levels of disability that people actually experience."

The study also reveals disability ratings differed between blacks and whites. Whites were four-times more likely to have surgery than blacks. Those who had surgery also got bigger settlements for their injuries. While surgery inflated disability ratings, it did not necessarily help the worker's injury, according to the researchers.

Investigators conclude the flaws in the system "are not distributed evenly" but "are visited disproportionately" on minorities and those of lower socioeconomic status.

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SOURCE: Journal of Pain