Hawaii: Comp rates expected to fall for fifth straight year, state officials say

Workers' compensation rates in Hawaii are expected to decline for the fifth consecutive year in 2010, officials recently announced.

In a filing with the state's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Insurance Division, the National Council on Compensation Insurance requested a 4.1 percent average decrease in workers' comp loss costs beginning Jan. 1, 2010. According to the filing, the reduction is based on a continuing drop in the number of claims filed in 2007, the last year in which complete data is available.

The latest reduction, if approved, would bring the total decrease in workers' comp loss costs to 65.5 percent over the past five years.

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"This is the largest workers' compensation insurance rate decline of any state in the nation, except possibly those states that have enacted major statutory reforms," said Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt.

Schmidt said the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division has made significant strides toward partnering with employers and labor organizations in enforcing the state's workplace safety and health laws. This collaborative effort, he said, has led to exemplary safety and health programs that have directly resulted in less workers' comp claims.

In addition, Schmidt said the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has continued to streamline and expedite the workers' comp hearing process, and that claims are being resolved in a timely manner.

"We want to emphasize that each filing is carefully reviewed because we understand the impact that these rates have on business and workers in Hawaii," he said.

If the filing is approved, insurance companies can choose to adopt NCCI's loss costs and then file their own factor for covering the other components that finally make up the premium.

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October 5, 2009

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