Today, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) Governing Committee voted to authorize the WCIRB to submit a September 1, 2021 Pure Premium Rate Filing to the California Insurance Commissioner.

The filing will propose advisory pure premium rates that will be on average approximately 2.7 percent above the average approved January 1, 2021 advisory pure premium rates. Included in the proposed increase is a 1.4 percent overall estimated cost impact of recent changes adopted by the Division of Workers’ Compensation to the Medical-Legal Fee Schedule and the Evaluation and Management Section of the Official Medical Fee Schedule.

In his presentation to the Governing Committee, WCIRB Executive Vice President and Chief Actuary Dave Bellusci noted that, to reflect the unique impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on exposure and losses, the WCIRB excluded all claims arising from a COVID-19 diagnosis from the analysis, refined projection methodologies to adjust for distortions caused by the pandemic and largely relied upon pre-pandemic experience to project cost levels for the period the proposed advisory pure premium rates will apply.

The WCIRB expects to submit its September 1, 2021 Pure Premium Rate Filing to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) during the week of April 26, 2021. The CDI will schedule a public hearing to consider the filing, and once the Notice of Proposed Action and Notice of Public Hearing is issued, the WCIRB will post a copy in the Filings and Plans section of the WCIRB website.

For More Information

Governing Committee Presentation – April 21, 2021
Regulatory and Pure Premium Rate Filings