MICH. TO SEE 11.2% DROP IN AVERAGE COMP RATE:

Michigan will see an 11.2 percent decline in the average workers’ compensation insurance rate, the largest drop in nearly a decade. The pure premium rate decline is reportedly due, in part, to well-developed safety programs that reduced losses, more seasoned workers remaining in the work force during job reductions over the past two to three years, and the medical fee schedule adopted by Michigan’s Workers’ Compensation Agency, which seems to work better than those in most other states. The move was recently approved by the state’s quasi-public Data Collection Agency Board. It is an annual yardstick against which private insurance carriers can compare their rate structures for workers’ compensation coverage. Although the rate registered small increases in 2003 and 2004, it has declined in eight of the past 10 years. The rate drop for 2005 is the largest since a 15.7 percent decline in 1996.

Topics Workers' Compensation