Dems Concerned SIGs Will Drive Up Employer Rates

By Greg Jones, Western Bureau ChiefThe Washington state Senate's labor committee took no action on a bill that would allow small employers to form self-insurance groups after Democratic members expressed concerns that the best risks would leave the state's monopoly system and drive up premiums for employers who are not able to join a group.Supporters of Senate Bill 6179 acknowledge that allowing self-insured groups could drive up rates for some employers, but said it's not fair that the good risks currently have to subsidize the costs of the bad risks in the state-run workers' ...