WORKERS’ COMP FUND EXPENSES:

After years of high surpluses and generous repayments to employers, Ohio’s state insurance fund for injured workers is trying to better balance income and expenses as it addresses issues raised by an investment scandal. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has set a goal of spending just less than $1 for every $1 it takes in to process claims by injured workers. That would be a marked change from its current practice, whereby it spends $1.31 for every $1 it receives from businesses.

The current income-to-expenses ratio is lower than in past years, when the state sometimes spent more than three times what it took in. In 1998, for example, the bureau spent $3.23 for every dollar it took in from employers. The same year, however, the agency’s investments were so strong that it gave back $3.6 billion to employers.