Hospital emergency rooms often provide the first stop for employees injured at work, but those ages 20 to 34 are 17 percent more likely to visit an emergency room than are employees age 45 to 64, NCCI found by analyzing data on claims submitted between 1996 and 2003.

Boca Raton, Florida-based NCCI says the discrepancy may occur because younger workers are less likely to have health insurance or a doctor they see regularly. They may use an emergency room even when a medical issue is not an emergency, NCCI noted.

According to Census Bureau data for 2005, 31 percent of people ages 18 to 24 and 26 percent of people ages 25 to 34 were uninsured, the NCCI found. In contrast, only 15 percent of people ages 45 to 64 were uninsured.

NCCI also found evidence that younger and older workers are billed similar amounts for similar treatments, so price discrepancy is not a factor.

NCCI’s study, “Younger Workers vs. Older Workers Going to the Emergency Room,” builds upon a body of NCCI research investigating how age impacts workers compensation claim frequency and severity. The study is available at www.ncci.com/ncci/index.aspx.

Filed by Roberto Ceniceros of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, please e-mail editors@workforce.com. To discuss this story or other workforce management issues, click here to visit our community center forums.