San Francisco, CA – The insurer and public members of the WCIRB Governing Committee recently voted unanimously to authorize the WCIRB to submit a January 1, 2014 Advisory Pure Premium Rate Filing to the California Insurance Commissioner. The Filing will propose advisory pure premium rates that average $2.70 per $100 of payroll, which is approximately 6.9% higher than the industry average filed pure premium rate of $2.53 as of July 1, 2013.
This indicated average pure premium rate does not reflect any provision for the impact of the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS), which is currently under consideration by the Division of Workers’ Compensation. The Governing Committee will meet on October 23, 2013 to consider the impact of any adopted changes to the fee schedule and whether an amendment to the WCIRB’s proposed January 1, 2014 pure premium rates is appropriate.
The indicated average 2014 pure premium rate of $2.70 per $100 of payroll reflects recently received June 30, 2013 experience. This indication is higher than the indicated $2.62 per $100 of payroll, based on March 31, 2013 experience, which was reviewed by the Committee at its August 7, 2013 meeting. The deterioration in the indication is largely attributable to adverse medical loss development on pre-2012 accident years coupled with sharply increasing indemnity claim frequency.
The WCIRB will submit its January 1, 2014 Pure Premium Rate Filing to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) on or around September 13, 2013. The CDI will schedule a public hearing to consider the Filing and once the Notice of Proposed Action and Notice of Public Hearing is issued, the WCIRB will post a copy in the Regulatory Filings section its website.
As a reminder, on August 9, 2013, the WCIRB submitted a separate January 1, 2014 Regulatory Filing to the CDI proposing changes to the Insurance Commissioner’s regulations to be effective January 1, 2014 and January 1, 2015. The CDI has scheduled a hearing for September 30, 2013 to consider the rule changes proposed by the WCIRB, which are primarily to the Uniform Statistical Reporting Plan and the Experience Rating Plan. For information about the Regulatory Filing, see the Regulatory Filings section of the WCIRB website.
Source: CA WCIRB