Reduction in workers compensation rates recommended

Declining numbers of workers compensation claims should bring a reduction in workers comp insurance costs for many Nevada employers.

The National Council of Compensation Insurance Inc. recommended last week an average 4.9 percent reduction in the portion of workers comp insurance rates that are established by loss experience among companies that are able to purchase workers comp coverage on their own.

Among companies that are placed in an assigned-risk pool because they're unable to get coverage on their own, the council recommended a 6 percent reduction in the portion of rates that reflect loss experience.

Along with loss experience, insurance carriers fold their operating costs and profits into the rates that they establish.

The new loss-experience rates are proposed to take effect March 1.

The loss experience varies from one type of employer to another.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance suggests a cut averaging 5.5 percent, for example, for Nevada building contractors who are able to purchase coverage on their own and aren't part of an assigned-risk pool. Manufacturers would see an average of a 9.1 percent decrease. Employers of office workers would see an average 2.8 percent decrease.

Employers with better-than-average histories pay lower premiums than companies with poor histories of workers compensation claims.

The national council noted that medical costs in Nevada continue to rise, and that puts upward pressure on workers compensation costs. But those pressures have been more than offset by a decline in the number of workers compensation claims.

Premiums for workers compensation coverage are based on an employers' payroll. In Nevada, unlike other states, the payroll that's used to determine rates is capped at $36,000 a year, per employee.