Baton Rouge, LA – Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is announcing that rates for Workers’ Compensation policies are falling for the fourth year in a row. The Louisiana Department of Insurance has approved a rate filing from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for a statewide decrease of 9.8% in workers’ compensation rates.
“Louisiana businesses are again reaping the benefits of lower workers’ compensation rates. Rates have had a cumulative drop of 34 percent over the last ten years and 50 percent over the last 20 years” said Commissioner Donelon. “Robust competition and a lower frequency of claims are resulting in workers’ compensation insurance being more affordable for business owners and that’s good news for Louisiana.”
Lower claims are the result of Louisiana’s improved incidence of nonfatal injuries and illnesses on the job. The state participates in a yearly, ongoing survey by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics in which Louisiana improved from approximately 40,000 incidents in 2005 to approximately 26,000 incidents in 2015 for workers in private industry. Incidents include any non-fatal, workplace related injuries and illnesses.
The Louisiana Department of Insurance’s actuaries reviewed the NCCI filing and Commissioner Donelon approved the decrease to take effect May 1, 2017. The previous NCCI filing that was approved was a 2.7 percent decrease which took effect May 1, 2016. The total Louisiana workers’ compensation market is estimated to be more than $950 million in total premium.
NCCI is an organization which analyzes workers’ compensation data and files loss costs or rates in 35 states.