New report reveals current trends
for P&C industry
SAN
DIEGO, June 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical
costs nationally have risen 11% in workers' comp and 5% in auto
first-party over the past four years, despite a slowing of growth
over the past two years, according to new data released by Enlyte
today.
Enlyte's most recent "Quarterly Medical Price Index (MPI)
Report" analyzed the company's medical bill review professional
services charge data for trends specific to P&C claims from Q1
2020 to Q4 2023. This information is based on Enlyte's observations
of charges and trends from professional service medical bills
during that span.
The Enlyte Medical Price Index data is representative of the top
200 procedures billed under each coverage for professional
services. The report provides national changes per unit index in
year-over-year and year-to-date views to better demonstrate
real-time changes in shorter increments, said Michele Hibbert, senior vice president of
regulatory compliance management.
"In this quarter's report, we have isolated a review of
approximately four years to project a more precise view of current
trends, without legacy influence from before 2020," said Hibbert.
"The goal is to determine, more specifically, where the current
movers may be. This has resulted in some significant trend updates
among states."
For workers' comp, these trend changes are most evident in
Texas and California, which showed MPI increases of 11%,
according to Enlyte data. Factors contributing to those increases
include rises in utilization and inflation, Hibbert said.
Enlyte's data also revealed an interesting trend in New York in comparing auto first party and
workers' comp MPIs. The state uses the same fee schedule for
no-fault auto as it does for workers' comp, however, no-fault auto
changes are adopted a year later. So, the fee schedule change delay
in first party auto contributed to an increase of 19% MPI from Q1
2020-Q4 2023, as opposed to a 3% increase in workers' comp during
the same time period, Hibbert said.
Nationally, Enlyte compared its MPI report numbers to the Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the same
time period. Enlyte's data shows a +4% difference in workers' comp
medical expenses (7% CPI) and a -2% difference in auto first party
injuries (4% CPI) during this time. Year-over-year changes show
slowing of price increases in the Enlyte MPI work comp data from
2022 to 2023. The Enlyte MPI demonstrates 5% increases between 2020
to 2021 and 2021 to 2022 in workers' comp, however, the increase
from 2022 to 2023 is 2%. Similarly, for first party auto injures,
data shows slowing of price increases in the MPI data from after
2021. The MPI demonstrates a 4% increase between 2020 to 2021 and
remains the same through Q4 2023.
In a recent interview for Enlyte's quarterly "Executive
Insights" feature, Hibbert explains that information from the
report should be used as an additional source to validate other
MPIs from industry organizations such as the National Council on
Compensation Insurance and Workers Compensation Research
Institute.
"It really depends on the areas of coverage that payers are
referencing and understanding that claims are geographically
dependent due to fee schedules and polices," she said. "Specificity
is key."
Click here to view Enlyte Quarterly Medical Price Index. For
Enlyte's quarterly "Executive Insight" feature with more analysis
from Michele Hibbert, click
here.
About Enlyte
Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Enlyte (www.enlyte.com) is the
parent company of Mitchell, Genex
and Coventry, leaders in cost-containment technology, provider and
specialty networks, case management services, pharmacy benefit and
disability management. The Enlyte businesses align their joint
industry expertise and advanced technology solutions in a combined
organization of nearly 6,000 associates committed to simplifying
and optimizing property, casualty and disability claims processes
and services.
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SOURCE Enlyte