Posted on 12/18/2004 8:51:36 PM PST by NormsRevenge
California employers paid 38 percent more for workers' compensation insurance this year than those in the second most expensive state, Alaska, a new study shows. The nationwide survey said the gap between California and the rest of the country widened further in the past two years. In 2002, the state's employers, while still facing the highest rates in the nation, paid 16 percent more than the No. 2 state of Florida.
On average, employers in January 2004 paid an average of $6.08 per $100 of payroll for premiums - $1.69 more than Alaska companies, according to a biennial survey of premiums in 50 states and the District of Columbia done by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.
For California's neighboring states, the rates were $2.58 in Nevada and $2.05 in Oregon. North Dakota boasted the nation's lowest rate, at $1.06.
The Oregon report is the only national survey conducted regularly. Because workers' compensation systems vary among states, the index is adjusted to reflect differences among industries and payrolls in each state.
The latest results illustrate how California was rapidly distancing itself from other states, a disturbing trend that sparked an outcry from employers and fears that the state-run program to treat job-related injuries was headed toward financial disaster.
"California over the last couple years had increasing benefits and costs that far exceeded the national average," said workers' compensation expert John F. Burton Jr. of Rutgers University. "California had gotten itself out of line with other states. That precipitated the crisis."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Not.
p
He's too busy calling for the Republican party to shift Leftward.
Arnold hasn't fixed anything, and I have no hope that he will. He campaigned as a big shot, and won because of his star status. McClintock would have been a better governor.
>>But, but, but, I thought Arnold fixed workman's comp?
ROFL! I was going to post the same theme.
("Didn't we just reform worker's comp?")
California's economy will improve when we chase out all those annoying businesses.
The facts are that the change in law/procedure that caused the recent downturn in premiums became law under Davis' signature, not Schwarzenegger's.
The comparatively modest "reforms" secured under Schwarzenegger's watch will have little to no effect on premiums until the next fiscal year.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.