In January of 2020, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation began considering an additional 13% rate reduction.
If the rate cut passes, private employers in the state would see their expenditures on workers’ comp premiums go down by almost $132 million. This would be the third rate cut in three years, and the 11th rate cut in 13 years. The largest of the cuts came in 2019, with a one-time 20% drop in private employers’ rates.
Ohio’s BWC says that these rate reductions come because employees are filing fewer claims, and that those claims filed are becoming less costly each year. The inflation rate for medical expenses has been relatively low recently, which adds to the impetus for rate reductions.
Total annual claims fell by 19% between 2010 and 2019. In 2019, the number of claims was down to 84,364.
Additionally, private employers have become more directly involved in the training and consultations offered by the BWC. The Safety & Hygiene Division of the BWC offers services to help companies improve on-the-job safety, and businesses are 70% more involved in these training than they were a decade earlier. By taking part in these training services, many companies have made their workplaces safer.
Public employers saw a 10% reduction in workers’ compensation premium rates, which went into effect on the first of January, 2020. That rate cut impacted schools, counties, cities, and other municipal staffs across the Buckeye State.
There are 249,000 employers in Ohio’s BWC system when counting both private and public employers. Across the board, rates for private and public entities are at their lowest since at least 1980.