Calif. Legislators Struggle Over Comp

Calif. Legislators Struggle Over Comp

By Caroline McDonald

NU Online News Service, Sept. 9, 4:31 p.m. EDT?State legislators in California are racing a midnight deadline to come up with an acceptable workers' compensation package.

"They are locked behind closed doors and trying to hammer out a deal," said Nicole Mahrt, director of public affairs for the American Insurance Association in Sacramento, Calif. "Legislators have a big challenge in that they want to get as high as $6 billion in savings, but to do that they will have to make some pretty hard decisions."

Last week, she said, the savings priced out by the Conference Committee were at about $2 billion "but people want more than that, and $2 billion is not enough to make a significant decrease for businesses."

The pure premium rates that will be seen Jan. 1, 2004 would require a cut of at least $3 billion "just to keep things where they are now, so it's a big task," she said.

Ms. Mahrt added that California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has been pushing for fundamental reform and "I think that he's got the right message."