Connecticut Business and Industry Association officials argue businesses shouldn’t have to pay inflated medical prices for workers’ compensation.
Amid the national spotlight on the gap between how much hospital’s charge for services and their actual costs, CBIA officials say businesses need more tools to negotiate reimbursement rates with hospitals to avoid the inflated costs. The association, which represents businesses of all sizes in the state, recently published a blog post about the subject.
Currently general assembly members are considering a bill, SB 1074, to do just that and  allow more negotiations to move forward for employers or their insurers. The bill is currently awaiting action in the Senate.
Originally Connecticut’s workers’ compensation law says employers should pay the “actual costs” of medicals expenses. However, a state Workers’ Compensation Commission ruling overturned that, stating employers must pay the full rate charged by hospitals, according to the CBIA.
With raising medical costs, workers’ compensation bills increased 7 percent this year, according to the CBIA. About 50 percent of workers’ compensation costs are medical related, and of that, about a third is paid to hospitals.
