Oklahoma comp rates to drop another 7.8% in 2015

Oklahoma businesses will see a 7.8% cut in workers compensation loss cost rates in 2015, the Oklahoma Insurance Department said Tuesday.

Workers comp rates are decreasing for the second straight year after the Boca Raton, Florida-based National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. recently filed for a rate reduction in Oklahoma, the department said in a statement.

The passage of workers comp reforms last year, which permit qualified employers to opt out of the state's workers comp system and either self-insure or buy private workers comp insurance, prompted a 14.6% decrease in workers comp rates last year, according to the statement.

“This is great news for Oklahoma's economy,” John D. Doak, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner, said in the statement. “When employers pay less for workers compensation insurance, they can more easily grow their business, hire additional workers and expand local economies.”

The rate cut will take effect Jan. 1, the insurance department said in the statement.