Washington’s Workers’ Comp Rate Holiday Ends Tonight

Washington’s six-month rate holiday, during which employers and workers saved $315 million in workers’ compensation premiums, will end with the arrival of the New Year tonight, according to the state Department of Labor and Industries.

For work performed on Jan. 1 and beyond, employers should resume deducting the worker’s share of the Medical Aid Fund premium from their employee’s paychecks.

The partial rate holiday, which began July 1, was made possible by higher-than-expected investment earnings and L&I’s success at managing health care costs for injured workers. L&I’s annual health care inflation rate averages 5.9 percent compared with a 7.7 percent annual average for the nation’s workers’ comp insurers.

L&I manages the state’s workers’ compensation system, which insurers about 2.5 million workers and 168,000 employers. That represents about 70 percent of the state’s workforce. The other 30 percent work for employers who self-insure.

Source: L&I