WCRI Study Looks at California’s Workers Comp Reforms

October 30, 2014

When California Senate Bill 863 took effect Jan. 1, 2013, it created several fee schedule changes in the California workers compensation system.

WCRI logoThe Workers Compensation Research Institute released a study this month looking at the possible effect of these changes on prices and payments in California relative to other states, as well as their potential impact on behavior and access to care.

The study, “Estimating the Effect of California’s Fee Schedule Changes: Lessons from WCRI Studies,” focuses on the transition to a resource-based-relative-value-scale fee schedule for professional services and the decrease in fee schedule rates for ambulatory surgery center services.

Findings from the study include:

“Although it’s still too early to see the full impact of SB 863, lessons can be derived from other WCRI studies to help us predict what could happen,” Ramona Tanabe, WCRI deputy director and counsel, said in a statement.

WCRI is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Cambridge, Mass