Workers’ compensation was not a major issue in the California legislature this year, and of the handful of bills still in play as the session came to a close, only two made it across the finish line. SB 788 by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), addresses race, gender, and other factors in apportionment decisions. AB 872 …
The California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) has good news. It is going another year without assessing California employers or other insureds to support its operations. Recent operational changes make future assessments even less likely. Association officials note that CIGA has nearly $2.7 billion in surplus across all of its lines of responsibility – workers’ compensation, …
According to the Bureau’s latest data, California’s workers’ compensation insurance carriers returned a pre-tax underwriting profit of nearly $2 billion last year. The 14% underwriting profit ratio is the third straight year of double-digit underwriting margins, but the results include State Fund’s numbers which adversely skew the results. The results sans State Fund are eye-popping. …
The California Insurance Guarantee Association’s board of directors learned this month that the agency’s projected expenses for the coming fiscal year are down nearly $38 million – a 45% reduction – from the agency’s budget just three years ago. Driving the savings are reduced spending on outside attorneys and decreased use of third-party administrators (TPAs). …
The Assembly Insurance Committee last week passed three bills that amend the requirements for some workers’ comp reports, increase oversight of a key industry resource, and would extend the California Insurance Guarantee Association’s bond issuing authority. The bills advanced without opposition. Two of the bills are Committee bills, but Committee chair Assemblyman Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) …
The Senate Rules Committee gave its unanimous approval to Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s appointment of Joe Holloway (see photo) to be the chief executive officer of California’s Conservation and Liquidation Office. Holloway has been with the agency for nearly two decades and overseen numerous carrier insolvencies and conservations. He replaces David Wilson, who retired last …
The California Insurance Guarantee Association continues to make progress in closing out workers’ comp claims and reducing future liabilities. A restructured claim handling process is also lowering its expenses in real-time. The association’s board of directors heard that CIGA nearly reached its full-year claims closure goal by the fiscal year’s halfway point and that its …