MEDICAL COSTS IN WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE

We examine whether patients covered by workers' compensation insurance , which covers the cost of medical care for injured workers without co st sharing and with relatively little oversight, are charged more for treatment or receive more services than patients covered by traditiona l insurance. Our findings indicate that workers compensation recipient s are charged more for treatment. This difference persists in individu al services - workers' compensation recipients are charged more per X- ray and per examination than other patients. We consider different exp lanations and argue that price discrimination probably plays a role.