Hartford CEO Sees Growing WC Margin Pressure

The Hartford CEO Christopher Jerome Swift told analysts last week that while workers’ compensation continues to be a profitable line of business, he expects rate rollback will continue into 2025.
“Like we said this year — last year at this time, we’re probably going to feel some margin pressure in that workers’ comp line, offset by other positive activities and margin expansion in other lines,” Swift said in a session at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference 2024.
He said that while The Hartford is the second-largest workers’ comp player, “I don’t think we’re trying to gain market share, but we’re not backing away from competing in certain states, in certain industries, certain geographies that make sense for us to compete where we think we can make good risk-adjusted returns.”
“I don’t think it’s a time to be super bold, but I don’t think it’s a time to be super cautious either,” he added.
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The Indiana Workers Compensation Board said Friday that the assessment for its Second Injury Fund for 2025 will revert to the level of the Fund’s 2023 assessment after a reduction in 2024.
“The total assessment for 2025 is approximately $5,000 greater than in 2023,” agency chair Linda Peterson Hamilton said in the Dec. 13 Second Injury Fund Report and Assessment for 2024.
“Currently, the Fund has $2.48 million to carry into 2025. We spent $161,000 more on prosthetics than projected and gained three recipients who receive wage replacement benefits. We are applying a 9% reconciliation factor for 2025,” the report said.
“Monthly payouts can exceed $600,000 between indemnities and prosthetics, so a shortfall could be devastating. Further, there is no longer a provision in law for an emergency assessment,” it added.
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The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation has released an online tool to help injured employees easily estimate their income and death benefits.
The tool calculates benefits based on the inputting of an injured employee’s average weekly wage.
The tool can estimate two types of benefit.
Income benefits which are paid to an injured employee who is unable to work due to a work-related injury. These may include temporary income benefits, impairment income benefits, supplemental income benefits, and lifetime income benefits; and,
Death benefits which are paid to families whose relative died as a result of a workplace injury.
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