The changing of the actuarial guard is underway at the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. WCIRB’s long-time chief actuary Dave Bellusci (see photo) led the Actuarial Committee discussions for the Bureau’s September 1, 2023, rate filing at meetings earlier this year. But it was deputy chief actuary Sean Cooper who pressed staff’s recommendation for a …
The Division of Workers’ Compensation billed its update to California’s med-legal fee schedule (MLFS) as a 25% boost to payments for qualified medical evaluators (QMEs). But when reality set in, med-legal costs spiked by 39% in the first year and continued to climb into the second year. The overall result is a 50% increase in …
A year after asking unsuccessfully for a 6.9% rate increase, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau will head back to the Department this year with a request for a 0.3% …
California’s experience rating system was designed to give employers a financial incentive to improve workplace safety by impacting how much workers’ comp coverage costs. New research data indicates that the system is working. Employers are becoming statistically safer after their X-Mod takes a hit due to workplace accidents. Researchers at the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating …
A dispute between an owner of over two dozen apartment buildings and its workers’ comp carrier over the correct employee classifications has gone to a California Department of Insurance administrative law judge. The Administrative Law Judge will determine whether a classification is correctly applied and if additional premium is owed. The owner of the apartment …
State and federal courts gave a boost to the legal fights gig economy companies are waging against California’s ABC test for differentiating between independent contractors and employees. A state court of appeal revived the industry-backed initiative to create an exception to keep app-based delivery drivers classified as independent contractors. Then, the Ninth Circuit Court of …
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will hold a virtual public hearing on April 24th to take public comment on the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s proposed regulatory changes for workers’ comp policies incepting on or after September 1st, 2023. The rule changes include a major restructuring of the classifications for the restaurant and tavern industry, updated …
California’s workers’ comp carriers’ experience last year improved over the prior year, according to a preliminary review of the 2022 experience the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau is making for its upcoming rate filing. Last year the Bureau filed for a 7.6% increase in the advisory pure premium rates arguing more premium was necessary. Insurance …