Self-Insurers Mulling Separate Discount Rate for Pension Liabilities

Washington self-insurers may ask state lawmakers to change the way the Department of Labor & Industries calculates future liabilities for the Second Injury Fund and cash-funded pensions to avoid a sudden increase in assessments.  The problem stems from the discount rate that L&I uses to account for investment earnings so that it can calculate the present-day cost of future liabilities for the purpose of setting reserves, the Washington Self Insurers Association said in a Nov. 3 blog post. The department now uses a discount rate of 6.2%, but its return on investments has not b...