The Louisiana Department of Insurance is predicting a 2.7% drop in Workers' Compensation rates for businesses in 2016, the Baton Rouge-based Advocate newspaper is reporting. The dip would save employers approximately $23.5 million in premiums.

The state Insurance Department is reviewing a filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which most insurers offering WC in Louisiana use. According the The Advocate, in seven of the past 10 years, NCCI has filed for WC rate reductions in the state. Altogether, the filings would have reduced rates by nearly 38%.

According to Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon, the number of insurers writing WC in the state has increased 19% from 2007 to 2014. "In 2007, there were 197 companies writing Workers' Comp," Donelon told The Advocate. "By the end of 2014, we had 235 companies writing here."

Donelon said the increasing competition is helping to drive rates down. "That competition is also bringing costs down, with companies today paying nearly 40% less for the same coverage as they were 10 years ago," Donelon told The Advocate.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission says medical treatment guidelines it implemented in 2011 have played an additional role in reducing rates by cutting the number of WC lawsuits by one third, The Advocate reported. According to the state commission, Louisiana workplaces ranked second-safest in the nation, behind Washington, D.C., in the most recent survey data available.

Despite the rise in healthcare costs, WC rates are the lowest they have been in 25 years, according to an analysis by Pro Publica. In 2014, Louisiana employers paid $2.23 for every $100 in wages. In 1988, employers were paying $3.77 per every $100.

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Workers&rsquo; Compensation rates expected to fall 2.7% in Louisiana in 2016

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Workers’ Compensation rates expected to fall 2.7% in Louisiana in 2016