Kentucky Approves Lower Workers’ Comp Loss Costs

In Kentucky, workers’ compensation loss costs used by insurers in figuring rates to charge employers will decrease for the ninth straight year.

Kentucky Insurance Commissioner Sharon P. Clark said that the Department of Insurance has approved the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s (NCCI) proposal that was filed with regulators on July 2.

The approved loss cost figures, which will become effective on Oct. 1, show an average reduction of 6.9 percent for the 586 industrial classes used in Kentucky. The industrial classes include manufacturing, office and clerical, contracting, and goods and services.

For coal classes, surface mining increased 3.1 percent and underground mining costs decreased 7.7 percent.

“NCCI reports that the industry is becoming more balanced,” Clark said. “This is good news for Kentucky as we have seen a combined reduction of 50.4 percent in the last nine loss cost filings.”

Clark said that the “combined efforts of Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration, the state’s General Assembly, employers and employees who are excelling in safety initiatives, and successful attempts to control medical costs have resulted in a sustained, positive impact on Kentucky’s workers’ comp market.”