The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau sent Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara its proposed updates to the Uniform Statistical Reporting Plan and the Experience Rating Plan regulations to take effect September 1, 2023.
The proposal includes updated expected loss rates impacting employers’ X-Mods and the pure premium rates for classifications. There is finally a proposal to establish a separate rate for the 8871 telecommuter classification.
As Workers’ Comp Executive previously reported in its premium edition, the Bureau is also filing to split the 9079 Restaurant classification into six new classes. The change, however, wouldn’t take place until 2024 for reporting purposes, and the classes would still be combined for rate-making for several years (for past coverage, see Six New…).
The Bureau is a private organization with quasi-governmental responsibility. It is financially supported exclusively by insurance carriers in whose interests it operates.
The filing includes fewer classes bumping up against the 25% limitation rule for changes in pure premium prices. Ten would be limited to a 25% increase, while three others would be limited to a 25% decrease. The class relativity for 8871 will also be limited to a 25% decrease if the proposal is adopted (for past coverage, see Finally…). Additional coverage of the limited classes is in tomorrow’s premium edition of Workers’ Comp Executive.
The Bureau is also proposing to increase the eligibility threshold for experience rating from $9,200 to $10,200. The adjustment is proposed to account for wage inflation and the changes in the expected loss rates.
The filing also includes new minimum and maximum payroll limits for classes with payroll caps. The new minimum would be $59,800, up from $57,200, and the maximum would climb to $154,700 from $149,500 per year. The limits apply to executives, professional athletes, and a growing number of white-collar and technical operations such as computer programming or audio post-production.
Commissioner Lara is expected to hold a hearing on the proposal later this spring.
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