Montana Cuts Workers’ Comp Costs

Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen has approved a 22.4 percent reduction in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs, which will translate to lower premiums for employers. The lower loss costs, which are the costs insurers pay for claims, come as a result of bipartisan legislation signed by the governor.

Montana law requires the Commissioner to review workers’ compensation insurance loss costs, filed by the state’s workers’ compensation advisory organization, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). Private workers’ comp insurance providers are required to adopt loss costs filed by NCCI. The state’s largest workers’ comp insurer, the State Fund, is exempt from regulation by the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, but Lindeen said she “fully expect[ed] the State Fund to match its private competitors dollar for dollar.”