THE CONUNDRUM OF MEDICAL INFLATION
April 24, 2018 THE CONUNDRUM OF MEDICAL INFLATION By Judge David Langham There is so much happening in workers’ compensation right now. It seems that every week brings revelations and discussion. There are a myriad of changes occurring across the country, and I was honored last week to discuss some of them with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Education Association gathering in Biloxi. One foundational element to me is medicine and economics. For decades, the rate of inflation for medical services in the United States has risen more rapidly than inflation in the general economy. As a result, medicine is consuming more and more of our personal, state, and national budgets. That care is being delivered is laudable. But, those cost increases are creating pressures. The ratios used to demonstrate indemnity (lost wage) benefits as the predominant workers’ compensation expense, but medical costs have overtaken indemnity, and continue to grow. The pressure is illustrated by the effec