Who Is Paying the Bills? Health Care Costs for Musculoskeletal Back Disorders, Washington State Union Carpenters, 1989–2003

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cameron W ; Dement, John M. ; Glazner JE ; Lipscomb HJ ; Silverstein B
• Description:
  OBJECTIVE: Factors associated with private health insurance payment rates for musculoskeletal back disorders were examined among a 15-year cohort of union carpenters. Payment patterns were contrasted with work-related back injury rates over time. METHODS: Negative binomial regression was used to assess payment rates; generalized estimated equations accounted for multiple observations per person and cost correlation within subjects. RESULTS: Payment rates increased after work-related injury and with the number of injuries. Increasing private payments and deductibles (inflation-adjusted and discounted) were observed in contrast with a marked decline in reported work-related injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Private insurance payments do not appear to be independent of work-related back injury. Findings suggest cost-shifting from workers' compensation to the union-provided health insurance and to the worker; they also provide a warning regarding reliance on workers' compensation statistics for surveillance of work-related disorders or disease. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Construction Industry Demography Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Back-injuries Biomechanics Construction Construction-industry Construction-workers Demographic-characteristics Health-care Injuries Mathematical-models Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Occupational-hazards Risk-factors Statistical-analysis Work-operations Work-practices Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  51
• Issue:
  10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036427
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2009 Oct; 51(10):1185-1192
• Contact Point Address:
  Hester J. Lipscomb, PhD, Box 3834, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
• Email:
  hester.lipscomb@duke.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Extremities
• Performing Organization:
  Duke University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040601
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20081231
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6748fcd52374b42421b4eef6afc90fb95db4d63956c2f8cd2441a16bf519b41d1f6709062cf940ce2451ffe1b2585406d2a1c4433a846c422bdca41fa2aa171c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187863/cdc_187863_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 360.72 KB ]