COVID Driving Bigger Rate Increases in Health Care, Agriculture Industries

Projected costs for COVID-19 claims added about six cents to the indicated 2021 advisory pure premium rate averaged across for all sectors in California, but the effect is most pronounced in health care and agricultural industries where costs from the pandemic are driving up the advisory rate by 24 cents. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau at the end of August submitted its annual filing recommending the Department of Insurance adopt an advisory rate of $1.56 per $100 of payroll for policies incepting on or after Jan. 1. With projected costs for COVID-19 claims, the WCIRB...