Rate changes floated for workers’ compensation rates

Average voluntary loss costs will drop by 3.9 percent and assigned risk rates will drop by 2.2 percent for workers' compensation insurance in Nevada under a filing approved by Insurance Commissioner Brett Barratt.

The changes take effect March 1.

In a Tuesday statement, Barratt's office said the decreases were proposed because workers' compensation claims costs have dropped over the past decade. Fewer claims, the office said, offset cost-of-living adjustments and generally increasing average indemnity and medical costs per claim.

Loss costs are the expected costs, including administration costs, of medical and wage loss benefits. Insurers convert the loss costs to full rates by factoring in the insurer-specific loss cost multiplier, which estimates the insurers' administrative expenses and profit.

The office said it expects the proposed loss-cost changes to help Nevada employers save money on workers' compensation insurance.