Worker compensation rates to decline

| Sunday, April 29, 2007

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PIERRE — Most employers in South Dakota should see a small decrease in worker compensation rates effective July 1, Gov. Mike Rounds announced.

“I commend South Dakota employers for their commitment to improving workplace safety,” Rounds said. “Although medical costs are rising, their efforts to diminish the number of on-the-job injuries are making a positive impact.”

The overall increase for voluntary loss costs, the basis on which individual insurance companies calculate their rates for the large majority of employers, will go down 1 percent. Those employers who have not been able to find coverage in the open voluntary market and are in the assigned risk plan will have their rates increased by 4.9 percent this year.

According to Merle Scheiber, director of the Division of Insurance in the state Department of Revenue and Regulation, there are a number of ways employers can control their workers’ compensation costs.

Safety reviews are available to employers through their insurance carrier as a way of controlling their workers’ compensation costs, and premiums can be reduced by buying a workers’ compensation policy containing a deductible. Another tool for employers is an effective first-aid program designed to appropriately treat minor injuries right away in order to reduce the likelihood of the injury evolving into a more serious medical problem.

For information about workers’ compensation ratings, call 773-3563 or go to www.state.sd.us/drr2/reg/insurance.

— Journal staff