The New York State Insurance Department has proposed medical treatment guidelines for workers injured on the job, which it says are designed to hold down workers' compensation costs and ensure better care for injured workers.

But the unit developing the evaluation scheme has yet to decide whether or not the proposals will have any teeth behind them.

The guidelines, the department said, focus on the treatment of injuries to the lower back, cervical spine, knee and shoulder, which account for nearly 60 percent of total medical costs in New York's workers' compensation system, according to data reported by the Workers' Compensation Research Institute.

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