The numbers below are related specifically to the injury of carpal tunnel and tendonitis, as documented by the Dept. of L&I, as to how many claims are filed for the given year and how many were accepted in that year.

Notice the number of claims filed each year are not much different in numbers. Do you notice though that the proportion of allowed claims have reduced year by year?

Also take close notice to the amount of money claims have averaged. Has the cost of medical attention in our country been going down?

How then are the average cost of claims going down?

YEAR TYPE OF INJURY CLAIM NUMBER OF CLAIMS RECEIVED NUMBER OF CLAIMS ALLOWED  TOTAL ESTIMATED COST AVERAGE ESTIMATED COST OF ALLOWED CLAIMS
2000 carpal tunnel and tendonitis claims 464 392  $  2,531,195.21  $  6,457.13
carpal tunnel claims only 3,887 2,817  $16,223,397.71  $  5,759.10
tendonitis claims only 5,210 4,128  $14,747,709.93  $  3,572.60
carpal tunnel or tendonitis 9,561 7,337  $43,058,097.37  $  5,868.62
1999 carpal tunnel and tendonitis claims 471 422  $  4,367,805.27  $10,350.25
carpal tunnel claims only 3,488 2,799  $26,360,382.88  $  9,417.79
tendonitis claims only 4,234 3,598  $22,555,774.01  $  6,268.98
carpal tunnel or tendonitis 8,193 6,819  $68,967,270.45  $10,113.99
1998 carpal tunnel or tendonitis 6,206 5,530  $72,570,335.60  $13,123.03
carpal tunnel and tendonitis claims 395 371  $  4,121,765.95  $11,109.88
carpal tunnel claims only 2,856 2,522  $30,868,353.93  $12,239.63
tendonitis claims only 2,955 2,637  $23,993,716.19  $  9,098.87
1997 carpal tunnel and tendonitis claims 399 369  $  6,459,689.25  $17,505.93
carpal tunnel claims only 2,521 2,216  $32,894,071.75  $14,843.90
tendonitis claims only 2,447 2,222  $24,544,708.95  $11,046.22
carpal tunnel or tendonitis 5,367 4,807  $78,303,354.08  $16,289.44
1996 carpal tunnel and tendonitis claims 311 293  $  5,886,213.09  $20,089.46
carpal tunnel claims only 2,156 1,888  $31,646,159.33  $16,761.74
tendonitis claims only 1,963 1,769  $21,790,724.13  $12,318.10
carpal tunnel or tendonitis 4,430 3,950  $71,822,760.58  $18,182.98

Explanation of select criteria
 This data is based on the number of claims received by L&I in the year listed that were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis affecting the upper extremities. NOTE: Estimated costs are based on total costs for claims that have been completed or estimated costs for claims that are still open.
The claims were identified using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD.9). All injury claims received by the Department, which listed an ICD.9 code for carpal tunnel syndrome(354.0 or 354.1), or tendonitis in the upper extremities( '726.0', '726.10', '726.11', '726.12', '726.19', '727', '727.0', '727.00', '727.03', '727.05', '727.09', '726.0', '726.10', '726.11', '726.12', '726.19', '727', '727.0', '727.00', '727.03', '727.05' or  '727.09') , were selected. There are numerous types of tendonitis which can affect all parts of the body. This report restricts the selection criteria to shoulders, arms, elbows, wrists and hands as identified by using the Z-16 Injury Body Part Code.

You, the injured worker, are not receiving provision of prompt and efficient care and treatment (RCW 51.04.030) from the State of Washington, Department of Labor and Industries as outlined in Title 51 (RCW).

In the link below, find an injury specific to you, a family member, or friend and see that the same applies.

Click Here To Find Your Injury


The following numbers are from the Dept. of L&I's web-pages regarding the year 2003, claims received, claims rejected, number of claims that were / were-not paid time-loss:

Injury and Illness Rates in Washington — FY 2003
Note: Does not include statistics on claims filed by workers employed by self-insured companies.
Number of claims filed injured or ill workers 144,464
Claims that paid medical benefits only 99,739
Claims that paid medical & wage replacement benefits 36,048
Claims rejected 21,086

According to these numbers 108,416 claims filed in 2003 did not receive time-loss, "wage replacement benefits". It would seem that a number of these claimants would have suffered time-loss from their Dr's advice to not return to work due to their determined work related Injury / Disease.

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