Ohio Rate Cut to Save Public Employers $2M

Ohio’s public employers will pay some $2 million less in premiums next year after the the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors approved a 1% rate reduction.
Effective Jan. 1, 2026, action has a projected annual premium decrease of approximately $1.8 million.
That pales in comparison with the 6% rate cut that private employers got, effective July 1, 2025, saving those employers $60 million.
Overall, the average rate levels for the 258,000 private and public employers are at their lowest in over 65 years, according to the BWC.
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Nationwide said it is teaming with insurtech Kinetic to help employers use technologies like tech-managed return-to-work, Agentic AI, and wearables to prevent worker injuries.
In support of its goal to help prevent one million workplace injuries by 2030, the insurer has published a series of videos that introduce a holistic, tech-driven approach that addresses prevention, intervention, and recovery.
Kinetic claims its technology can lead to 60% fewer injuries, a 22% reduction in claims costs and 13% lower premium rates.
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The Ohio Supreme Court earlier this week reversed a split appellate court ruling that granted a delivery driver permanent disability over its assessment that an Ohio Industrial Commission hearing officer failed to consider all documentation of the man’s physical and psychological state when ruling he could continue to work.
The driver was injured on the job in 2006 while unloading packages.
His workers compensation claim was allowed for both physical and psychological conditions, which included several herniated discs, depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, lumbar conditions, and joint disease.
In the following years, he underwent four back surgeries but continued to experience back and leg pain and was unable to work outside the home since his injury.
The high court said the hearing officer with the commission complied with state law “by considering claimant’s psychological as well as physical conditions before concluding that he could engage in sustained remunerative employment” with some restrictions.
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Hanover said it is expanding its Business Owner’s Advantage product with an offering targeting early-stage and smaller life sciences businesses.
The insurer already serves mid-size enterprises in that industry.
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