For the first time in years, workers' compensation insurance rates are heading south - declining an average 13.8 percent in the past six months. But the reductions, fueled by two major overhauls of the beleaguered state-run program, fall short of earlier forecasts, including a 25 percent to 30 percent decrease predicted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in April. The quasi-public State Compensation Insurance Fund, the state's largest carrier with more than 50 percent of the market, has cut premiums an average 9.7 percent in 2004. It's a decision that has disappointed Democratic lawmakers and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi. Everest National Insurance...
