Montana Reducing Workers’ Comp Costs 22.4%

Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen has approved a 22.4 percent reduction in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs, which will translate to lower premiums for employers. The lower loss costs, which are the costs insurers pay for claims, come as a result of bipartisan legislation signed by the governor last month.

Montana law requires the Commissioner to review workers’ compensation insurance loss costs, filed by the state’s workers’ compensation advisory organization, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). Private workers’ compensation insurance providers are required to adopt loss costs filed by NCCI. The state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, the State Fund, is exempt from regulation by the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, so it is not clear how the State Fund will adjust its rates.

“As private insurers lower their premiums, I am confident the free market will work and the State Fund will follow,” Lindeen said. “I fully expect the State Fund to match its private competitors dollar for dollar.”