Massachusetts Schedules Hearing on 7.7% WC Rate Hike Request

The Massachusetts Division of Insurance is scheduled to hold a hearing on Jan. 30 to consider the request of the Workers’ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts (WCRIB).

WCRIB is requesting a statewide average rate increase of 7.7 percent and an effective date of Jan. 1, 2014.

If approved, it would be the state’s first average rate hike in more than 10 years. WCRIB’s last filing in 2012, which had proposed an 18.8 percent average rate increase, was rejected by regulators after a five-month public comment process.

The Jan. 30 hearing would give interested parties an opportunity to provide evidence and testimony relating to the proposed workers’ compensation classifications, risks and rates — it’s intended to assist the insurance commissioner in determining whether the proposed classifications and rates are excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory for the risks to which they apply, and whether they fall within a reasonable range.

The workers’ compensation residual market share in Massachusetts has been growing steadily over the past couple of years.

As of October 2013, the residual market share made up almost 17 percent of the market in Massachusetts.