Ohio drops rates

• Ohio’s public employers will pay nearly $8 million less in premiums next year to the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation because of a rate cut that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
• This 3.9% rate reduction was made possible by declining injury claims and relatively low medical inflation costs by Ohio’s counties, cities, public schools, and other public taxing districts.
• Approved by BWC’s Board of Directors at this month’s board meeting, the reduction improves the already historically low rates for Ohio’s employers.
• Overall, the average rate levels for the 257,000 private and public Ohio employers in the BWC system are at their lowest in over 60 years.
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Workers’ comp fraud increases in construction

• There is increased fraud throughout the construction industry.
• The organizations alerted financial institutions about increased state and federal payroll tax evasion and workers’ compensation insurance fraud in the U.S. commercial and residential construction industries. Photo courtesy of Clem Onojeghuo.
• Officials say that federal tax authorities lose hundreds of millions of dollars yearly to these schemes, which are carried out by unlawful actors primarily through banks and check cashers.
• These schemes impact the local and national construction job markets and put legitimate construction contractors and their employees at a competitive disadvantage.
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Proposed cuts in Florida

• The National Council of Compensation Insurance is proposing insurance carriers reduce their workers’ compensation costs on average by 15% for Florida businesses starting Jan. 1, 2024.
• The proposed filing is based on data from Policy Years 2020 and 2021 as of year-end 2022. The industry has seen favorable loss experiences in each of those years.
• The proposed rate also takes into consideration changes in the medical fee schedule.
• The rates also included a lower profit and contingency factor — which reflects the higher investment returns expected in today’s interest rate environment.
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Lawsuit against secret club

• Workers at one of the oldest and most secretive men’s retreats in the country claim they are underpaid and overworked, according to a recent lawsuit.
• Some of the workers said they were regularly paid “under the table” so that the Bohemian Club could avoid paying payroll taxes and workers’ comp insurance.
• Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, and a host of past presidents and billionaires descend on the camps,
• Most of the activities focus on drinking and eating, said one of the workers, who are known as “valets” at the camps.
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