Kansas Commissioner Rebuffs Proposed Workers’ Comp Rate Hike

Kansas’ top insurance regulator refused a proposed workers’ compensation rate increase and actually got the rate to drop slightly, the state insurance department announced.

Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger rebuffed a recommendation for a workers’ comp rate increase from the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. (NCCI). She said the rates — a proposed 1.7 percent overall increase for the voluntary base rate, and a 5.3 percent overall increase for assigned risk workers’ comp rates — were too high.

NCCI subsequently amended its filing, lowering the existing voluntary base rate by a half-percentage point and only increasing the proposed assigned risk rate by 3 percent.

Voluntary workers’ compensation base rates are used by all insurance companies writing workers’ compensation in the competitive market. Assigned risk rates are used for insured businesses in the Kansas Assigned Risk Plan, a state organization for those businesses who are unable to obtain coverage in the competitive market.

The filing applies to all insurance carriers writing workers’ compensation policies for businesses in the state. The effective date is Jan. 1, 2012.