State Fund Proposes Reduced Workers’ Compensation Rates
The State Compensation Insurance Fund on Monday filed a proposal to reduce workers' compensation insurance rates by 9% for policies renewed by or beginning on Jan. 1, 2007, the Oakland Tribune reports (Dunai, Oakland Tribune, 11/29).
State Fund officials also announced that small employers with "superior safety records" will continue to receive a 10% workplace safety credit. Small employers have annual premiums between $1,000 and $75,000.
The rate reduction represents the seventh consecutive for State Fund, whose rates now reflect a cumulative savings of 49% below pre-2004 rate levels, officials said (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 11/28).
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) must grant final approval to the proposed rate cut before it can take effect (Oakland Tribune, 11/29). Earlier this month, Garamendi recommended that insurance carriers lower the workers' compensation rate by 9.5% (San Francisco Business Times, 11/28).