Is Workers' Compensation Covering Uninsured Medical Costs? Evidence from the "Monday Effect"

Steady increases in the cost of medical care, coupled with a rise in the fraction of workers who lack medical insurance, create incentives for workers who are injured off-the-job to file Workers' Compensation claims. Many analysts have interpreted the high rate of Monday injuries-especially har...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial & labor relations review 1996-07, Vol.49 (4), p.690-706
Main Authors: Card, David, McCall, Brian P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents
Back injuries
Civil damages
Claims
Compensation
Cost
Costs
Dependents
Employees
Employer provided health insurance
Employers
Employment
Evaluation
Evidence
Factors
Fractions
Group health insurance
Health Care
Health Care Costs
Health care expenditures
Health Insurance
Health insurance claims
Industrial accidents
Injuries
Insurance
Insurance claims
Insurance coverage
Insurance fraud
Labour relations
Medical Services
Minnesota
Occupational Safety and Health
Personal injuries
Physical trauma
Probability
Retail trade
Sprains and strains
Studies
Uninsured people
USA
Wages
Wages & salaries
Worker's Compensation
Workers
Workers compensation
Workers Compensation Insurance
Working Hours
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Summary:Steady increases in the cost of medical care, coupled with a rise in the fraction of workers who lack medical insurance, create incentives for workers who are injured off-the-job to file Workers' Compensation claims. Many analysts have interpreted the high rate of Monday injuries-especially hard-to-monitor injuries like back strains-as evidence of such claims. The analysis in this paper, however, which uses data on "first reports" of injuries filed with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry between 1985 and 1989, indicates that workers with low probabilities of medical coverage are no more likely to report a Monday injury than are other workers. Moreover, employers are no more likely to challenge the Monday injury claims of workers with low medical coverage rates than the claims filed by workers with high coverage rates.
ISSN:0019-7939
2162-271X
DOI:10.1177/001979399604900407