Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rates For Employers in Missouri, Aided by Competitive Market, Are Expected to Drop Again, Gov. Nixon Announces

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Dec. 22 -- Gov. Jay Nixon, D-Mo., issued the following news release:

With a record number of Missourians working, employers in the Show Me State should see a continued decrease in workers' compensation insurance costs, Gov. Nixon announced today. The Missouri Department of Insurance is recommending a 4.6 percent decrease in workers' compensation insurance loss costs for 2017. This would mark the third year in a row of decreases in costs for businesses; rates will have gone down 9.8 percent over that time..

"We have invested in workplace safety and workforce training over the past eight years, and the result has been a decrease in business costs for job creators," Gov. Nixon said. "By supporting workers on the job and keeping these costs down, we've made Missouri a great place to start, locate or expand a business. I also want to thank Missouri Insurance Director John Huff for his efforts to strengthen and expand the insurance market to help keep costs down for businesses and consumers alike."

Of Missouri's near-record number of 337 active workers' compensation insurers competing for Missouri business, 225 insurers filed rate decreases in 2016 with an average decrease of 2.9 percent. A decrease in rates means more savings for businesses in Missouri.

"The workers' compensation market has become one of the strongest and most competitive insurance markets in Missouri," Huff said. "Because the number of claims has continued to decrease over the last eight years, Missouri is an attractive market for insurers and employers. The decreasing claim trends and competitive market is projected to result in Missouri businesses seeing additional rate decreases in 2017."

Prospective loss costs are intended to cover indemnity and medical payments for injured workers and some of the expenses associated with providing these benefits. Insurers use loss costs to set their workers' compensation rates. Every year, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), a not-for-profit provider of workers' compensation information and services, files advisory loss costs with the Department of Insurance.

The NCCI's 2017 loss cost filing and the department's independent actuarial review are available on the department's website.

The Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration (DIFP) is responsible for consumer protection through the regulation of financial industries and professionals. The department's seven divisions work to enforce state regulations both efficiently and effectively while encouraging a competitive environment for industries and professions to ensure consumers have access to quality products.

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