Do your part and take action against the proposed Workman’s Comp Rate Increase in Delaware
From the NCCCC:
The Delaware Compensation Ratings Bureau has proposed to increase workman’s compensation rates (paid by Delaware’s employers) by 45.53 percent in the residual market, and 38.27 percent in the voluntary market, on top of a pending 5% increase.
These proposed increases could not come at a worse time and would be crippling to Delaware businesses. Even an increase of roughly half the Bureau’s proposed amount would be unsustainable for many Delaware employers.
In light of the medical cost controls implemented under Senate Bill 1, The Workers Compensation Reform Act, the substantial unemployment of the last four years, particularly in the manufacturing and construction sectors, and the reduction in the overall number of workers compensation claims, this onerous rate increase cannot be justified.
We respectfully request that the Insurance Commissioner reject the Bureau’s proposal and conduct a formal inquiry into the reasons for the substantial variance between their rate filing and the conclusions of independent actuarial analysis. We also urge her, to the extent possible, to keep any pending increases to as low a percentage as is possible given the fragile state of our economy.
Click below to join the New Castle County Chamber in calling on the DCRB to support, not harm, Delaware’s employers at this critical time.
Click HERE to take a stand against rate increases
- Renew your Delaware Business License Online
- The Delaware Business Weekly Round Up – December 21, 2012
There is no question that a rate increase like this would cost the entire State dearly. Employers will be unable to hire workers. The real small businesses out there (less than maybe 25 employees) won’t be able to grow, and might even shrink their workforce. These businesses run their budgets like a household. Ask yourself if your household be able to sustain a 45 percent increase in any one cost, given the overall rising costs of survival in general. If you answer yes, then you are truly fortunate. Most of us out here are hanging by a thread. Making payroll is already challenging enough. Should we lower the wages of workers? Should we reduce the workforce of our organizations? These are questions faced every week, without the threat of a 45% rate hike in workman’s comp. Punishing the job creators isn’t the answer; it makese sense to me to not allow any pending increase to exceed the official published rate of inflation. Even then, I fear for the future of small business in the First State.