by Christian Wade
Connecticut businesses will pay less for workers’ compensation insurance next year, with the state again reducing premiums paid by private employers, which regulators say reflects an ongoing decline in claims.
The Connecticut Insurance Department has approved an annual workers’ compensation rate filing for 2024 with a decrease of 9.8% in voluntary market loss costs and a decrease of 10.5% in assigned risk plan rates.
This is the 10th consecutive year the state has reduced worker’s comp rates, the agency said.
Gov. Ned Lamont said the move reflects a noticeable decline in workplace injuries and filed claims, resulting in cumulative savings of more than $300 million in reduced premium expenses for businesses.
“These lower rates will help Connecticut businesses save money, enabling them to invest these savings back into their companies and employees,” he said in a statement.
Employers pay an annual assessment to operate Connecticut’s workers’ compensation system, which provides benefits to employees who are injured or become ill because of their jobs while protecting employers from costly lawsuits.
The updated workers’ compensation rates proposed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance are based on past and prospective loss experiences.
State insurance regulators recently issued a memorandum and order approving the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s filing.
Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais said the decline in workplace injuries is driving the steady reduction of rates for workers’ compensation premiums.
“The loss costs and assigned risk rates have steadily gone down over the last nine years, helping businesses better control workers’ compensation insurance costs – one of their critical operating expenses,” Mais said. “This reflects an ongoing decrease in the number of workplace injuries and claims filed.”
Other Northeast states are also seeing continued declines in required worker compensation premiums.
In New York, employers will save more than $50 million in 2024 with a lowered annual workers’ compensation assessment that went into effect on Nov. 1, after state insurance regulators signed off on the new rates.
New Jersey’s insurance regulator has approved a 3.9% reduction in workers’ compensation and employer liability rates for next year based on the latest data, which includes claims filed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Christian Wade is a contributor to The Center Square.
