HAWAII WORKERS’ COMP RATES INCREASE

Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Wayne Metcalf announced that the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has received approval for a 4.6 percent overall increase in workers’ comp insurance loss costs in Hawaii. The NCCI originally filed for a 9.1 percent increase, but the Insurance Division’s independent analysis determined that the original request would have produced rates that were higher than what was justified by Hawaii workers’ comp insurance experience. The loss costs are only a portion of the workers’ comp rates, and insurance companies will have to add their operating expenses to the loss costs and file their rates for approval. According to Metcalf, this loss cost revision is in line with the changes in the underlying costs associated with workers’ comp insurance coverage since the 8.9 percent decrease that was approved on Jan. 8, 2000. This change follows consecutive decreases in 1996, 1997, and 2000, which totaled more than 41 percent, according to Metcalf.