Cutting workers’ compensation rate would cut Ohio BWC premiums by 10%
The state fund for injured workers is offering another rate reduction for the Ohio businesses it covers.
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is proposing a 10% reduction in premiums that would save private employers nearly $106 million in the next fiscal year beginning July 1. The office’s board will consider the proposal at its February 25 meeting.
The 10% reduction would follow a 10% reduction for public employers such as counties, cities and schools that took effect Jan. 1.
The bureau has been cutting rates for more than a decade now.
The bureau credited fewer injuries and lower estimates of future health care costs for reductions in premiums paid by private and public employers. Worker’s compensation, in effect, is an insurance policy designed to provide income and pay medical expenses for workers injured on the job and their families.
The bureau says premiums for the 249,000 private and public employers it covers are at their lowest level in at least 40 years.
In addition to the rate cuts, the bureau returned money to employers with rebates, including a $5 billion rebate at the end of 2020 to help employers through the pandemic.
The proposed reduction of 10% represents an average. The actual premium paid by individual private employers depends on several factors, including the expected future costs of claims in their industry, their company’s recent claims history, and their participation in various bureau programs.
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