The Southland

Workers’ Comp Rates: State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi is expected on Wednesday to announce an immediate reduction in the minimum rates paid by state employers for workers’ compensation insurance. Garamendi has previously said he was considering a cut in the range of 10% to 15%. The savings are available, he said, because insurance companies’ expenses have been slashed by the stagnant economy, legislative reforms and other initiatives that have curbed fraud and abuse in the system. Not all employers will feel the impact, however. Insurers will still be free to charge more than the minimum rate, so they are unlikely to slash rates for employers judged to be high-risk. And even for those whose rates are slashed, the move represents only a one-time gain. The state will begin dismantling its complicated rate system in January, scrapping the minimum rate in favor of market-set prices.