State Roundup: Rates, premiums, and benefits

Illinois reforms lead to proposed rate drop. Workers' comp rates in Illinois may drop by nearly 9 percent thanks to recently adopted legislative reforms. NCCI has filed for an 8.8 percent loss cost decrease to be effective Sept. 1.

The Florida-based organization said in its rate filing it expects changes to the medical fee schedule to account for much of the decrease, with changes in benefits adding to it.

NFL seeks to seal the deal against players filing in California (04/19/12)
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Physician-owned surgery centers come under researchers' scrutiny (06/18/12)
Coalition disputes contentions in think tank's report on N.Y. assessments (04/19/12)
Report outlines effective strategies for successful self-insurance groups (06/18/12)

The Department of Insurance is considering the filing.

Montana State Fund lowers rates by 20 percent. Calling them the most significant rate changes since the early 1990s, the head of the Montana State Fund announced an average 20 percent rate drop. The more than 28,000 employers in the MSF saw the reduction in July.

The board of directors said the decision was based on the anticipated savings from recently adopted legislative reforms. The state fund bases its premium rate decisions on filings from NCCI, which are also used by other workers' comp carriers in the state. NCCI filed for a 22.4 percent decrease.

The announcement and legislative reforms followed a report last year by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. In a ranking of workers' comp rates, Montana was at the top of the list with the highest rates.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

August 15, 2011

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