Combined Ratio Increases to 122%

The combined ratio for California insurers in 2011 was 122%, compared to 117% in 2010 and 2009, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau said on Tuesday.Medical losses paid in 2011 were $4.4 billion and accounted for 60% of total payments, as they did in 2010 and 2009, when total medical losses were $4.3 billion and $4.2 billion, respectively. In 2011, $1.5 billion was paid to physicians and $1.1 billion was paid to hospitals, the same as in 2010. Payments to injured workers, mostly for future medical, increased to $987 million from $822 million. Payments to pharmacies increased...