Chicago Injury News

Fill out the form
to speak to an
Injury Lawyer Now.

Study Reveals Auto Injury Medical Treatment Patterns In Illinois, Other States

August 1, 2005

Auto injury claimants from four states seek different types of medical treatment, even though they report similar injuries, according to a new study of insurance claims by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) that examined auto injury claiming behavior in California, Illinois, Texas, and Washington.

Comparing auto injury claims from these four tort states, IRC finds that California claimants go to chiropractors most often, Illinois claimants are most likely to see an emergency room physician, and Washington claimants are most likely to go to general practitioners, as well as alternative medical providers, such as massage therapists. From 1997 to 2002, per-claimant medical expenses increased the most in Texas, compared with the other three states.

The recently released IRC study, entitled Analysis of Auto Injury Insurance Claims in Four Tort States, examines detailed information from auto injury claims that closed with payment in four states with similar auto insurance regulations: California, Illinois, Texas, and Washington. The analysis reveals the following differences and similarities among bodily injury liability (BI) claims in these four states.

In each of the four states, neck or back sprains were the most serious injury for at least seven out of ten BI claimants, and at least three-quarters suffered no disability from the accident. In all four states, average BI payments exceeded claimed economic losses, reflecting auto insurance payments for general damages, sometimes referred to as pain and suffering. In 2002, claimed economic losses, mainly consisting of medical expenses, were highest in Illinois and California BI claims, averaging $5,506 and $5,409 respectively. The corresponding average insurance payments to BI claimants were $7,850 in Illinois and $7,830 in California.

In comparison with these two states, Texas claimants averaged lower reported economic losses ($4,483) and BI payments ($5,768). Washington BI claimants' economic losses averaged $3,833, the lowest of the four states. However, average BI payments were $7,594 in Washington, near the levels in Illinois and California.

"Auto insurance claimants often seek different types of medical treatment for the same types of injuries, and this apparently varies by the state in which the accident occurs," explained Elizabeth A. Sprinkel, senior vice president of the IRC. "Regardless of treatment type, however, insurers' BI payments exceeded claimed expenses on average in each of these four states."