$1B Rebate to Ohio Employers Approved

Article

The directors of Ohio’s insurance fund for injured workers unanimously approved Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to send rebate checks ranging from $5 to more than $3 million to businesses, local governments and schools.

About 210,000 businesses and public employers would see one-time rebates in June or July under the $1 billion plan signed off on by the board of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

Money for the one-time rebate stems from solid investments by the agency, which provides workers’ comp insurance for about two-thirds of the state’s workforce. The agency said its net assets have grown to $8.3 billion.

The rebate is separate from a court dispute over employer payments.

The state is appealing a judge’s March decision awarding $860 million in repayments from the fund to employers the judge says were charged excessive premiums for nearly a decade. The bureau said the money involved in the lawsuit has been set aside.

The president of group representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit acknowledged the rebate program would help Ohio employers reinvest in businesses. Earl Stein, president of Pay Us Back Ohio BWC Inc. and a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit, also said that if the bureau wanted to show its commitment to economic development, “it should immediately refund the $860 million the court ordered them to repay 270,000 employers.”

Local governments and schools in Ohio could see almost $113 million in rebates, according to the Kasich administration. Not all local governments or schools would get a rebate, because some employers are self-insured and don’t pay into the bureau’s system. But nearly 3,800 local governments and schools would see checks, the Kasich administration said.

Schools would receive about $42.5 million in total — the largest slice of the $112.8 million being returned to public employers. Cities would get $37 million, while counties would see $16.5 million. Townships could expect $7.6 million.