In fact, in some states it is illegal for workers' compensation insurers to use managed care at all.

Also, they say, standard health-care providers like H.M.O.'s may be less concerned with getting a worker back on the job than are workers' compensation insurers.

Because they must pay for lost wages, workers' compensation insurers have an incentive to get employees back on salary as soon as possible.

It is a workers' compensation insurer for Ontario, Canada.

By the turn of the century, it was the nation's sixth-largest workers' compensation insurer.

Riscorp, Florida's largest workers' compensation insurer, sold 10 million shares at $19 each.

Worker's compensation insurers say their costs have also been swelled by claims for off-the-job injuries as employers have cut back on general health benefits.

The fund, a workers' compensation insurer of last resort, provides coverage for nearly half of all New York businesses.

All told, workers' compensation insurers estimate that they suffered $5.7 billion in losses last year.

Payouts by workers' compensation insurers have also been rising, and total premiums are a half-billion dollars less than a decade ago.