Calif. WCIRB Revises Workers' Comp Increase Request

NU Online News Service, Sept. 16, 3:38 p.m. EDT

The California Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) has revised its workers' compensation rate increase request to 27.7 percent from 29.6 percent, reflecting additional data that has become available since the initial request, the WCIRB said.

WCIRB communications director Jack Hannan, said the bureau submitted its original filing in August based on data available as of March 31. The updated request takes into account data through June 31 that was not available in August, he said.

He said the additional data revealed no new trends emerging. Claim settlement ratios, he said, continued to decline, meaning that claims are staying open longer.

The lower rate increase request reflects some data corrections from large carriers, Mr. Hannan said, in addition to a change to some data components.

The California Insurance Department did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

Last year, the department rejected WCIRB's 22.8 percent increase request, with Commissioner Steve Poizner declaring that workers' compensation rates will not change "one dime" until insurers address avoidable costs in the system.

Earlier this year, after WCIRB's August request, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a letter to Commissioner Poizner asking that the department reject the increase. He said insurers are not using tools contained in the state's 2004 workers' compensation reforms to control costs.

Mr. Hannan said the public policy part of the workers' compensation debate does not factor into WCIRB's requests, and he added that the bureau does not have the authority to tell insurers how to control costs. He said WCIRB's role is to look at the data it is given and make a recommendation based on that data.

The WCIRB said a public hearing on the matters contained in its filing will be held Oct. 12, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. in San Francisco.