Ohio workers comp rates to drop 20%

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation approved a 20% reduction in the average premium rate it collects from private employers in the state, representing the bureau’s largest reduction in nearly 60 years.

The reduction, which is an average statewide change, will take effect July 1, the bureau said Friday in a statement.

This rate cut follows a 12% reduction approved by the bureau last July for both private and public employers, which took effect Jan. 1. Overall, the average rate levels for the 242,000 Ohio employers in the bureau’s system are at their lowest in at least 40 years and will save private employers in the state more than $200 million next year, according to the bureau.

The bureau’s CEO/administrator, Stephanie McCloud, said in the statement that safer workplaces have resulted in fewer and less costly workplace injury claims, and that lower inflation of medical costs also contributed to the reduction. Claims in Ohio have fallen 18% since 2010 to 85,136 in 2018.

The bureau noted that the actual total premium paid by individual private employers will depend on expected future claims costs in their industry, their company’s recent claims history, participation in various bureau rebate programs as well as assessments collected to fund the operations of the system. Assessment rates for 2019 will be considered by the bureau’s board of directors in March.