Oakland CA, April 17, 2020 – Earlier today, in response to the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on California employers and workers, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) Governing Committee voted unanimously to make a special regulatory filing to the California Insurance Commissioner. The Committee’s vote authorized the WCIRB to file rule changes to the California Workers’ Compensation Uniform Statistical Reporting Plan—1995 (USRP) and the California Workers’ Compensation Experience Rating Plan—1995 (ERP). The changes, if approved by the Insurance Commissioner, would:
Exclude COVID-19 Claims from Experience Rating
Claims arising directly from a diagnosis of COVID-19 with an accident date on or after December 1, 2019, would be excluded from the experience rating calculations of individual employers. Since the occurrence or non-occurrence of COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims incurred by an employer is unlikely to be a strong predictor of that employer’s future workers’ compensation claim costs, the inclusion of such claims in an experience modification calculation would not meet the intended goal of experience rating… Read More
