Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced via teleconference this morning that his office has denied a petition by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau for a 23.7% increase in the Workers’ Compensation Cost Benchmark.
In response to the request, Poizner convened a cost efficiency hearing, from which he determined that “the amount of efficiencies left to be implemented by insurers is substantial.” Poizner pointed to bodies such as the University of California, which provides its own workers’ compensation insurance, as examples of insurers who have seen costs decline by implementing such efficiencies.
“You all need to focus on making the workers’ comp system much more cost efficient,” said Poizner, who vowed to not include any avoidable costs in the benchmark.
Poizner also announced the creation of a Workers’ Compensation Cost Advisory Group to assist in “making the worker’s comp system here in California work as efficiently and as effectively as possible.”