Bureau Wants 8.8% Rate Decrease

Monday, July 8, 2019 | 0

The Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau is recommending an 8.8% overall reduction in rates, a cut that would take effect Oct. 1.

The bureau made the filing earlier this summer, according to a circular and recent news reports. The state Office of the Commissioner of Insurance must approve the rates before they can take effect.

The decrease would be the fourth in as many years, thanks in part to a decline in workplace injuries and claims, officials said.

Wisconsin employers saw about 82,400 injuries and illnesses in 2017, slightly fewer the year before, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the state's rate of workplace illness and injuries is still higher than the national rate, which totaled 3.1 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2017. Wisconsin had a rate of 3.7 cases that year, according to a news report.

Medical provider organizations have said that the falling workers' comp costs for employers show that the system is functioning well and means there's no need for a medical fee schedule, as some business and insurance groups have asked for.

“Workers' compensation premium rates remain lower in 2019 than they were over a decade ago, and according to the Department of Workforce Development, rate reductions in 2017 and 2018 have amounted to $304 million in savings to Wisconsin employers,” reads a news release from a coalition of health care providers.