Journal of occupational medicine. : official publication of the Industrial Medical Association
-
Contract health care plans exclude workers' compensation from among the prepaid medical benefits. Under present contract relationships, compensable injury and illness can be billed to the employer as fee-for-service care. ⋯ A statistically significant relationship between prepaid health care plan enrollment and per capita workers' compensation costs at these yards suggests the likelihood of systematic cost-shifting by overdiagnosis of compensable injury and illness. Changes in prepaid contract incentives may improve the ethical and economic health care climate for workers' compensation.