Labor Wants Governor to Admit Rate Decrease Not Tied to Legislation

Labor advocates want Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to correct the record and concede that recent legislative reductions to workers’ compensation benefits had nothing to do with an 8.7% rate decrease for both the voluntary and assigned risk markets. The Iowa Insurance Division approved the rate decrease on the recommendation of the National Council on Compensation Insurance, which attributed the drop to lower claims frequency in policy years 2014 and 2015. Iowa claims frequency has dropped from 24.9 per $1 million of on-leveled, wage-adjusted premium to 14.7 in 2015, NCCI said. The rate decre...