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Pennsylvania cuts workers comp rate

Posted On: Apr. 4, 2017 12:30 PM CST

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania implemented a 6.21% decrease in advisory workers compensation rates, according to a Thursday statement from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s office.

The rate decrease, which took effect Saturday, will save Pennsylvania businesses an estimated $150 million, according to the statement.

The reduction will help business owners “create jobs that pay in Pennsylvania and at the same time, maintain fair benefits for workers injured on the job,” Gov. Wolf said in the statement.

The rate decrease was based on a loss-cost filing from the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau, Gov. Wolf said. The rate filing was based on improved workers comp claim frequency in Pennsylvania and cost savings from H.B. 1846, according to a copy of the January filing posted on the rating bureau’s website.

H.B. 1846, passed in 2014, capped reimbursement of repackaged drugs at 110% of the average wholesale price, restricted physicians from dispensing Schedule II controlled substances and prohibited physicians from dispensing more than a 30-day supply of other medications.