Louisiana businesses may see workers compensation premiums drop for the sixth year in a row.
State Insurance Commissioner James Donelon approved an 8.4% workers compensation rate reduction Friday based on an annual loss cost filing from the Boca Raton, Florida-based National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc., the Louisiana Department of Insurance said in a statement.
The state’s workers comp rates have had a cumulative drop of nearly 25% over the past five years, and a 55% drop over the last 20 years, according to the statement. The new rate will take effect May 1, 2020.
Louisiana’s workers compensation insurance market is estimated to be about $800 million in total premium.
Medical payments for injured workers in Louisiana were higher and growing faster than in most states, with payments per claim increasing more than 7% per year from 2006 to 2011, according to a study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute.