The Fruit of Knowledge
Posts tagged national council on compensation insurance
Ohio Workers’ Comp Agency Proposes Cut in Private Sector Rates
Apr 26th
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has proposed a 2.1 percent base-rate reduction for private employers.
The recommendation to its board of directors would reduce employer premiums by $29 million for the July 1, 2014, policy year, the BWC said.
If approved, it would be the third year in a row that workers’ compensation insurance rates have remained steady or dropped.
Ohio’s workers’ compensation rate reductions over the last three years come at a time when the National Council on Compensation Insurance reports that nationally, states with rate increases are outnumbering states with decreases, according to the BWC’s announcement.
The proposal was presented to the board’s actuarial committee, and is for the 2014 policy year, which runs July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014.
It represents an aggregate savings of $29 million over 2013 premium collections, and would bring the three year savings for Ohio businesses to an estimated $224 million. The three year savings is based on comparisons to 2011 rates and assumes a flat payroll, which is the basis for establishing premium.
Employers saw a 4 percent rate decrease in 2012 and flat rates in 2013.
The actual premium paid by individual private employers depends on a number of factors, including their industry, their recent claims history and expected future costs, and their participation in discount and savings programs.
The board’s audit committee also heard a proposal to maintain the bureau’s discount rate at 4 percent. The discount rate reflects the assumed future rate of return on investments and is factored into the bureau’s reserve levels and premium pricing.
BWC is a non general-revenue fund state agency that provides workers’ compensation insurance for 250,000 Ohio employers and covers approximately two-thirds of Ohio’s workforce. With approximately $1.9 billion in annual premium and assessment income, BWC is the largest state-fund system in the United States and one of the top 10 underwriters of workers’ compensation insurance in the nation.
BWC processed more than 115,000 new claims and paid approximately $2 billion on roughly one million open claims in 2012. BWC’s mission is to protect Ohio’s workers and employers through the prevention, care and management of workplace injuries and illnesses at fair rates.
Source: Ohio BWC
Article source: Article Source
The post Ohio Workers’ Comp Agency Proposes Cut in Private Sector Rates appeared first on .
Oregon Report: Workers’ Comp Increases Coming
Feb 26th
More data is power, but then again knowledge goes only so far – especially in workers’ compensation.
A report out on Tuesday shows continued workers’ comp rate decreases on average countrywide through 2011, but don’t expect that to continue, one of the report’s authors said.
“What sort of surprised me was that pretty much everyone has continued to go down, to decrease,” said Jay Dotter, co-author of Oregon’s 2012 Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Study.
The report uses National Council on Compensation Insurance risk classification codes and information gathered directly from the states themselves. Tuesday’s report is an updated and fully expanded version of a report put out earlier.
“We were expecting to see a swing around, to see things start increasing,” Dotter said.
The report’s national median rate index has been on the decline since the early 1990s. In 2012, the national median rate index was $1.88 per $100 of payroll. The national median rate index peaked in 1994 at $4.35. It is currently at its lowest since the inception of the report, which was launched in the late 1980s to provide data to help Oregon’s government figure out something they kind of already knew – the state’s workers’ comp rates were far too high.
“They needed good data to make decisions,” Dotter said of those who conceived the report, which is issued once every other year. “After that they came up with a series of modifications in the program to cut down on wasted expense. It’s not just one thing that we changed, there were quite a few different features that have created what some have called a model system.”
Dotter noted that Oregon’s rate index was 16 percent below the national median in 2012. The state’s rate index had peaked at 49 percent above the median in 1990.
The state’s employers on average pay the nation’s 39th highest workers’ comp premium rates, meaning 38 states had higher rates in 2012. Oregon ranked 41st in 2010.
The premium rate index in Oregon is $1.58, and indices range from $1.01 per $100 of payroll in North Dakota to $3.01 in Alaska. Since 2004 the range between the highest and lowest-cost states has been narrowing, according to the report.
Dotter, a research scientist who spent nine years in the oil industry as exploration geologist before coming to Oregon, said the report works to spur those states with poor rankings, and he suggested states that are doing exceptionally well may be taking that for granted.
“If you look at the previous reports and look at top 10, the top 10 tend to drop,” Dotter said. “Those at the very top tend to drop more.”
And the rate at which rates have dropped has been tapering off. In fact, Dotter, who expected to see increases by now, said “we’ll see definitely increase in 2014.”
He based that assessment on an examination of the notices that come out from different states announcing what is happening with workers’ comp premiums.
“We’re expecting it to go up as of 01/01/2012,” he said. “It hit bottom and is starting to go back up again. I expect it to start moving up.”
Article source: Article Source
Connecticut Regulators Approve NCCI’s WC Loss Costs, Rates Hike Filing
Dec 10th
The Connecticut Insurance Department recently approved National Council on Compensation Insurance’s workers’ compensation insurance filing for a change in voluntary market advisory loss costs and a change in assigned risk rates for workers’ compensation insurance. The changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2013.
The approved proposal includes an overall loss cost level change of +7.1 percent and an overall +0.4 percent change in assigned risk rates. Changes to individual classification costs have been limited to ±20 percent of the industry group change.
The changes in loss costs reflects the following pure premium level changes: manufacturing +6.8 percent; contracting +9.9 percent; office and clerical +0.9 percent; goods and services +7.6 percent; and miscellaneous +8.8 percent.
The change in assigned risk rates reflects the following rate level changes: manufacturing +0.1 percent; contracting +3.0 percent; office and clerical -5.4 percent; goods and services +0.9 percent; and miscellaneous +2.0 percent.
The Insurance Department published the NCCI filing and the executive summary on its website on Oct. 15 and provided a 30-day period for the public and interested parties to review and comment on the filing. Regulators said it did not receive any public comments and did not hold a public hearing. The department’s announcement can be found on its website (a PDF file).
Article source: Article Source
NCCI Recommends Conn. WC Loss Costs and Rates Increases
Oct 9th
The National Council on Compensation Insurance recently filed a proposal for workers’ comp loss costs and rates increases in Connecticut.
The NCCI is proposing that the Connecticut regulators approve a +7.1 percent change to the current voluntary loss costs, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2012. The NCCI is requesting that the new proposed change go into effect Jan. 1, 2013.
In the NCCI’s proposed overall average change in the voluntary loss cost level, the key components include: a +7.1 percent for the experience and trend; a -0.7 percent change for benefits; a -0.2 percent change for loss-based expenses; and a +0.9 percent change for the offset for the change in employers liability ILF’s.
Employers unable to secure coverage in the voluntary market can apply for such coverage in the assigned market. In its Sept. 27 filing, the NCCI is also proposing that the Connecticut regulators approve a +0.4 percent change to the current assigned risk rate level, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2012. The new change is also proposed to be effective Jan. 1, 2013.
More >
Nevada Workers’ Comp Loss Costs to See 1 Pct Increase
Mar 1st
Many Nevada employers will see a small increase in the premiums they pay for workers’ compensation insurance in 2012.
Nevada Insurance Commissioner Scott J. Kipper has approved a filing from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for an average increase of 1 percent for Nevada workers’ compensation voluntary insurance loss costs.
The revisions took effect on Thursday.
The overall loss-cost increase for the voluntary market is driven by an increase of 1.6 percent in the medical fee schedule issued by the Division of Industrial Relations.
While premium may increase for some employers, the overall performance of the Nevada market has been stable and competitive, according to statement from Kipper.
Nevada’s assigned-risk workers’ compensation rates for 2012 have decreased an average of 5.2 percent from 2011. This change is effective March 1. The reduction is due to expense reductions in administering the assigned-risk program, according to Kipper’s office.
Read More from the Article Source: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2012/03/01/237814.htm
Aging Workforce May Not Be So Bad for Workers’ Compensation, Says NCCI
Jan 5th
The aging workforce may not have the negative impact on loss costs that workers’ compensation insurers have feared.
New research from the industry’s National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) also concludes that while loss costs are higher for older workers due to the severity of their claims, these costs tend to be accounted for in higher premiums, which are based on the higher wages earned by older workers.
The new study, “Workers Compensation and the Aging Workforce,” found that workers’ compensation claims frequency has fallen across all age groups and differences by age have narrowed. In fact, the long-held assumption that younger workers have high injury rates is no longer true.
The report, authored by Tanya Restrepo and Harry Shuford, addresses the concern about the “potential adverse impact” on workers’ compensation as the average age of the workforce goes up in part due to baby boomers postponing their retirement. It
Read More from the Article Source: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2012/01/05/230009.htm
Maine Workers’ Comp Rates to Go Down Next Year
Nov 19th
Maine Insurance Superintendent Eric Cioppa said the Bureau of Insurance has approved the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s request to decrease workers’ comp loss costs in the state by an average of 3.2 percent for policy year 2012.
Cioppa said the approved cut in loss costs should reduce premiums in the insured market by about $6.1 million per year. The effective date for the proposed rates is January 2012.
“This loss cost filing indicates that the frequency of claims is decreasing faster than any increase in medical and indemnity expenses for each claim,” Cioppa said. “This decrease can be attributed, in part, to the continuing focus on safety by Maine employers.”
Maine Governor Paul LePage added that the state’s business community can take pride in the progress that’s been made to enhance safety and reduce workers’ comp costs. “Everyone benefits — employees, employers and customers — from safe workplaces and lower premiums,”
Read More from the Article Source: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2011/11/18/224685.htm
NCCI Study Examines Medical Services in Workers’ Comp Claims
Nov 6th
National Council on Compensation Insurance issued on Nov. 1 a new report on medical services. The study casts light on how different combinations of medical services contribute to workers’ comp claim costs over time.
Understanding what combinations of medical services are used and for what types of injuries and for how big a claim is important, the study noted. NCCI says a better understanding in this area offers insight into the growth in medical costs.
The study said medical services now constitute almost 60 percent of workers’ comp claim costs. That figure is up from about 40 percent in the early 1980s.
The study quantifies how a certain mix of medical services for a more serious injury or illness differs from the care provided for a worker heal from a minor mishap.
The study also found the medical services profile for workers with serious injuries transforms over time. It said the profile becomes
Read More from the Article Source: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2011/11/04/222953.htm
NCCI Study Examines Medical Services in Workers’ Comp Claims
Nov 6th
National Council on Compensation Insurance issued on Nov. 1 a new report on medical services. The study casts light on how different combinations of medical services contribute to workers’ comp claim costs over time.
Understanding what combinations of medical services are used and for what types of injuries and for how big a claim is important, the study noted. NCCI says a better understanding in this area offers insight into the growth in medical costs.
The study said medical services now constitute almost 60 percent of workers’ comp claim costs. That figure is up from about 40 percent in the early 1980s.
The study quantifies how a certain mix of medical services for a more serious injury or illness differs from the care provided for a worker heal from a minor mishap.
The study also found the medical services profile for workers with serious injuries transforms over time. It said the profile becomes
Read More from the Article Source: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2011/11/04/222953.htm
Conn. Regulators Weigh Workers’ Comp Rate Hike Proposal
Oct 23rd
Posted by michael in Money & Finance
No comments
Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas Leonardi announced a 30-day public comment period on the National Council On Compensation Insurance (NCCI) voluntary loss cost and assigned risk rate filing.
NCCI is proposing that the insurance department approve a +7.1 percent change to the current voluntary loss costs and a +0.4 percent change to the current assigned risk rate level (both of which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2012) and that the new loss costs and assigned risk rates take effect on Jan. 1, 2013.
The insurance department said last week it does not intend to hold a public hearing concerning the proposal. However, interested parties are encouraged to provide comments concerning the NCCI filing to Thomas Taggart, the insurance associate examiner, at the property/casualty division of the Connecticut insurance department.
Article source: Article Source