Wisconsin Cuts Average Workers’ Comp Rates 2%
- Wisconsin employers will pay lower workers’ compensation insurance premiums for policies incepting on or after Oct. 1 after state officials approved an average 1.97% rate reduction.
- The reduction is expected to save businesses an estimated $36 million over the next year.
- The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance jointly announced the decrease, attributing the lower rates partly to continued attention to workplace safety, though actual premiums will still vary by industry and risk exposure.
- The annual rate adjustment is developed by actuaries at the independent Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau, which analyzes claims data, before being reviewed and approved by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.
- Insurance Commissioner Nathan Houdek said the state’s competitive insurance market continues to provide affordable coverage for employers while maintaining employee protections.
Oregon Raises Workers’ Comp Wage Replacement Rate Starting January 2027
- Starting Jan. 1, 2027, Oregon’s workers’ compensation system will pay 75% of previous wages for injured workers earning up to 133% of the average weekly wage, and 65% on wages above that threshold, up from the current flat 66% replacement rate.
- The change stems from Senate Bill 1519, which Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law March 31 and celebrated again with a ceremonial signing Sept. 9.
- The proposal, backed by AFSCME, UFCW and the Oregon Labor Federation, previously stalled in 2025 before gaining consensus support this year from the Management Labor Advisory Committee (MLAC), whose joint employer-worker approval is required before the Oregon Legislature will consider workers’ compensation system changes.
- MLAC co-chair Scott Strickland, an attorney for Sheet Metal Workers Local 16, said low wage replacement had pressured injured workers near the poverty line to drop claims and return to work prematurely, calling the increase “a good-for-workers policy that organized labor was able to take up the torch on.”
Kinetic Insurance to Stop Offering Wearables, to Focus on Claims ‘Intelligence Dashboard’
- Kinetic Insurance is retiring its Reflex wearable devices from its workers’ compensation program, no longer offering them to new policyholders and fully phasing them out for existing ones by Oct. 1, 2027.
- The company is shifting investment toward its claims intelligence dashboard, which combines policy information, near-real-time claims data and return-to-work status, with AI monitoring 80 data points per claim.
- Kinetic says employers actively engaged with its program see 34% lower loss ratios, and newly appointed VP of Product Matt Crum is leading further platform development for mid-market and large commercial accounts.
- The strategic shift is reflected in the company’s rebranded website, with its former domain, wearkinetic.com, now redirecting to kineticcomp.com.