Since the State Fund is the insurer of last resort, wouldn't the criteria be: we take anyone who shows up?
and his DOI has to approve *every* rate change or rate proposal before it can be implemented
Would that imply that his office had to have approved the discounts for big customers - the very thing that he's now complaining about?
They will, but the rate they pay will be different depending on (whatever).
Would that imply that his office had to have approved the discounts for big customers - the very thing that he's now complaining about?
Yes, but it’s misleading in a couple of ways. First, the state fund for w/c is a lot like the state fund for auto insurance – the state mandated that you must carry that insurance, now they have to have some gimmick by which you can get it. So the people that typically end up getting insurance there are often people that can’t get it anywhere else.
The other thing (and I’ve heard Garamendi several times on the Ronn Owens show b!tching about w/c and how big companies like UPS have such huge discounts while mom/pop stores take a bath in the state fund, etc.) is that some companies DO get much cheaper rates due to size and nature of work – but a lot of big companies self-insure and hire a third party to administer it.
So when Garamendi was carping about UPS vs. mom/pop store, he knows good and well that (as of 3-4 years ago) UPS was self insured WRT w/c. Self-insured with Liberty Mutual acting as administrator, IIRC. They also used to self-insure WRT vehicles, facilities, and equipment. Just that some of his comparisons aren't apples/apples. FWIW.