Rising Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Like a great sports team on a years-long winning streak, the workers’ compensation insurance industry continues to put up record-breaking profit numbers, the top actuary for the National Council on Compensation Insurance said at the council’s annual symposium. The numbers, including a continued drop in combined ratio, an increase in profitability and a sustained drop in claims frequency, are so good, in fact, that some stakeholders are wondering if they’re watching a bubble about to burst.
“We have never seen this level of financial performance, and it is clear insurers are still trying to figure out why this is happening, when it will end, what will cause a change and what the warning signs will be,” blogged longtime industry analyst Joe Paduda, principal of Health Strategy Associates. Even NCCI CEO Bill Donnell gave a nod to the horizon.
“After seven straight years of strong performance, people frequently ask me, ‘Are we in for a big swing in the other direction?’” Donnell said in his opening remarks at the State of the Line symposium in Orlando, Florida. He said he couldn’t predict the future but noted that more timely data and advanced analytics are making underwriting more accurate, and are reducing peaks and valleys in comp rates, and that helps create a stable marketplace.
The NCCI acts as the rating bureau for 38 states, including for Florida Workers’ Compensation Benefits, and releases their data annually at the symposium. Net written premium, another key indicator, also improved. The number rose, from $45 billion in 2017 to $48.6 million in 2018, an 8.5% increase, NCCI’s chief actuary, Kathy Antonello, told the crowd. The number has climbed almost every year since 2010. Every NCCI state reported a drop in claim frequency from 2013 to 2017. Overall, claim frequency dropped almost 5% in 2017, but just 1% in 2018.
While this information is good for the workers’ compensation insurance companies, it is not for injured workers. The insurance companies’ savings just means higher profits. In additional, since there are less claims, various state legislators may be contemplating reductions for the lost wages and medical benefits for employees that were hurt on the job. With profits at a record high, there is no need for any benefits for injured workers to be reduced,” said Tom Holder president of the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group. That’s why you need the immediate help of The Law Offices of Evan M. Ostfeld, P.A. He and his legal team will fight for the benefits that you deserve! Contact us today for a free case evaluation toll free (866) I SUE YOU (478-3968), (844) 411 KING (411-5464), (954) 227-7529, (954) 998-0075 text or evan@attorney4life.com.
