Note: Workers’ Comp Advisor will take its annual summer break starting Monday, June 30, and resume daily publication on Monday, July 14. Happy Fourth of July to all of our valued subscribers!
Analyst KBW Sees WC Rates to Buck Commercial Rates Moderation
- Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods expect workers’ compensation insurance rates to show moderate rate increases over the next year, as overall commercial rates moderate after several years of compounding gains across most lines of business.
- Using May 2025 pricing data from MarketScout, KBW found that workers’ comp was only one of three lines that recorded sequential rate increases.
- WC rates inched up 1% after a long duration of flat pricing, which the analyst said reflected increases in claims severity and medical inflation.
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Texas Okays Video Conferencing for Contested Case Hearings
- The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation can now hold contested-case hearings by video conference if there is mutual agreement of the parties or on a determination that good cause exists for remote proceedings.
- That comes about after Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 2488 last week.
DWC last year asked for the changes in state law to help it manage a caseload of some 4,500 contested hearings each year. - “Virtual hearings, on agreement of all parties, would improve access to legal representation for injured employees living in more remote regions or out of state,” the DWC said in its report.
- A separate bill renaming maintenance taxes collected from carriers and self-insured businesses as “surcharges” that finance DWC, was allowed to pass into law without Abbott’s signature.
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