PA. COMP DECREASE PROPOSED:

Pennsylvania workers’ compensation rates will be going down next April if a loss cost filing submitted by the industry is approved. The Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau has recommended that workers’ comp loss costs be reduced an average 2.89 percent effective April 1, 2005. The reduction is due in large measure to improvement in the medical cost trend, according to Dawn Belfus of the PCRB. Last April, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department approved PCRB’s filing for a 3 percent rise in loss costs. AFL-CIO President William M. George called the rate reduction good news for workers and employers. “We attribute this in large measure to the dramatic 50 percent reduction in workplace injuries that has occurred over a 10-year period,” he said.