The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) today proposed its lowest workers compensation rate increase in five years.
The state agency is proposing a 2.5% increase, far lower than the 10% to 14% hike that would have occurred without state reforms to the system passed in the last legislative session.
We recognize the impact of painfully slow economic growth, and this proposal balances that with the needs of the workers comp system, L&I Director Judy Schurke said in a statement. The reforms passed this year had the effect they were designed to – now and into the future.
The legislative reforms are expected to save $1.1 billion over the next four years.
Over the past three years, L&I used $332 million from the State Fund reserves to partially fund the premiums for employers and workers, holding down rates during the recession. T
Health insurers are posting record profits these days. Despite this, many of them insist that they need to keep raising their rates substantially to remain viable. How is it that they can justify charging consumers more money when they’re already making money hand over fist?
California’s Anthem Blue Cross, the state’s largest for-profit health insurer, has been pummeled in the press for proposing a premium hike for individual insurance coverage. Some individuals were told their rates would rise as much as a hefty 39 percent — this after Anthem reported a fourth-quarter 2009 profit of over $2.5 billion.