Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Finalizes Rate Reduction

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) board of directors has approved a 3.9-percent overall private employer premium rate decrease for the upcoming policy year, beginning July 1, 2010. The upcoming rate cut represents an overall 35-percent base rate reduction since July 1, 2007.

BWC staff and its consulting actuary, Deloitte, show a reduction in base rates for 396 of the 531 manual classifications. This represents an overall 8.4 percent decrease in base rates since 2009.

Manual classification base rates are used in the formula to calculate employer premiums. Because private employers pay for their workers’ compensation coverage six months in arrears, they will see this latest decrease in their January 2011 statements.

Since 2007, BWC has lowered base rates in 84 percent of the manual classifications used to compute employer premiums. Ohio’s manual classifications are based on National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. (NCCI) standard manual classifications, which are used by most states to calculate rates for hundreds of job classifications.

The board also approved BWC’s Fiscal Year 2011 Administrative Budget. The $284 million budget is approximately $22 million or seven percent less than the amount approved for Fiscal Year 2010, and approximately $45 million or 13 percent less than the appropriation level approved by the Ohio General Assembly.

Source: Ohio BWC

Topics Workers' Compensation Talent Pricing Trends Ohio