Workers comp rates likely to dip with filing's approval

Nevada's insurance commissioner last week approved a filing that will result in lower workers compensation premium costs for many employers.

The filing from the National Council on Compensation Insurance becomes effective March 1, said Insurance Commissioner Alice A. Molasky-Arman. The rates will apply to individual employers on the anniversary dates of their workers compensation policies.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance provides the data on loss rates that are used by all insurance carriers to set rates in Nevada. The insurers then add their operating costs and profit margins to determine their individual rates.

The changes in loss rates vary from one industry to the another.

Contracting will see a 7.9 percent decrease in the loss rate for companies that have the ability to buy coverage on their own and 7.5 percent for companies in an assigned-risk pool.

Manufacturing companies will see decreases of about 13 percent, and office and clerical functions will see decreases of more than 6 percent.

Overall, the new rates are down by 10.5 percent for voluntary coverage and 10.1 percent for assigned-risk coverage, Molasky-Arman said.

When it first filed the new rates late last year, the National Council on Compensation Insurance said fewer workers compensation claims have been filed in Nevada, allowing lower rates.

On the other hand, the council noted that rising medical costs and a cost-of-living adjustment mandated by the Nevada Legislature in 2003 place upward pressure on workers compensation costs.

In Nevada, the first $36,000 of a worker's pay is used to calculate workers' compensation rates, the insurance commissioner noted. In many other states, the full payroll is used in the calculations.