New Oregon Study Ranks State Workers Comp Cost

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services has released its latest study ranking the relative costliness of Workers Compensation insurance in all the various states.  The 'winner' this year, for most costly state, is California. And in our own experience, not only is California an exceedingly expensive state to buy Workers Compensation insurance, t is also a state where the regulatory and oversight mechanisms seem particularly poor, in terms of the redress and protection provided to employers in disputes over premiums, audits, classifications, and modifiers.

California goes its own way when it comes to Workers Compensation insurance, using its own rating bureau with its own distinctive manual of rules--and the biggest source of WC insurance is the State Compensation Insurance Fund, a state owned and operated WC fund that competes with private insurance. The combination of all these factors, really high premium rates and really crappy regulatory oversight, combined with a particularly high-handed State Fund means that employers in the Golden State have a really, really tough time of it. If you think your Workers Compensation insurance costs are a burden, just thank the business gods that you're not in California--unless you are, which in that case means you're really, really taking it on the chin.