A new study released by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) indicates there are a number of factors, including age, that impact how long a worker remains on workers compensation temporary disability.

For the study, TD duration was defined as the number of days TD benefits were paid and excludes any gaps in benefit payments.

The three wage groups were defined as:

• Low—Injured workers with pre-injury wage lower than 50 percent of the State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW).
• Base—Injured workers with pre-injury wage between 50 percent and 150 percent of the SAWW.
• High—Injured workers with pre-injury wage greater than 150 percent of the SAWW.

The study authors noted the percentages of wage earners in each category:

• Low wage earners represent 29 percent of injured workers.
• Base wage earners represent 64 percent of injured workers.
• High wage earners represent 7 percent of injured workers.

The report, “The Influence of Wage on Temporary Disability Duration—A Modeled View” by Kirk Bitu, Casan Scott and Alana Bernardo, found that the influence of wage on duration depends on claimant age and that the average duration for high wage earners is the longest and that of low wage earners is the shortest.

However, it is important to note that, typically, high wage earners are older and older workers tend to need more time to heal after an injury.

The report also found the difference in duration among age groups is smallest for high wage earners.