On August 1st, Healthesystems attended the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) webinar that presented findings on interstate variations and trends in workers' compensation drug payments from Q1 2021 to Q1 2023. 

Key points included:

• Prescription payments per medical claim decreased in most states, with Massachusetts having a 68% decline and Louisiana a 22% increase
• In Q1 2023, payments varied 12-fold across states, from $84 in California to $1,036 in Louisiana
• Dermatologicals and NSAIDs were the top drug groups by payment share.
• South Carolina saw an 18% decrease in dermatological payments after capping topicals in April 2022
• NSAID payments were stable except in California, where higher-priced drugs, fenoprofen and ketoprofen, initially increased costs but later decreased
• Higher-priced formulary drugs, including dermatologicals and NSAIDs led to a 34% increase in New York’s per-claim payments
• Muscle relaxant payments rose by 74% in Louisiana and 59% in Pennsylvania
• Migraine medication payments increased in 23 states

The webinar also concluded with a Q&A session that covered various topics, including:

• Massachusetts and Minnesota’s sharp increase in low prescription payments was due to reduced prices and fee schedule improvements
• The impact of Georgia's new topical reimbursement policy will be in a future report
• Louisiana, Maryland, and Florida had half of their payment share in physician dispensing
• COVID-19 claims accounted for 1% of prescriptions, half for respiratory medications
• Increases in dermatological payments were driven by higher-priced drugs and physician dispensing practices