Insurance increase proposed

Friday, April 21, 2000 | 4:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Not one Nevada business owner protested when a national actuarial firm proposed increasing workers' compensation premiums by an average 6.3 percent in July.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance recommended the increase during a hearing Thursday before state Insurance Commissioner Alice A. Molasky-Arman. She'll make a final decision in a few weeks.

The council is an independent statistical and actuarial firm hired by Molasky-Arman to advise her on appropriate rates for worker's compensation, which compensates workers who are injured on the job. It performs similar work in 38 other states.

In response to the firm's recommendations in December, Molasky-Arman approved a 6.4 percent increase that went into effect in January. The increase covered higher insurance costs brought about by the Legislature's decision last year to increase benefits for injured workers.

The December hearing drew many protesters, but no one chose to make a public protest Thursday.

Barry Lipton, the council's rate manager, spent most of his presentation explaining how two-thirds of the employers in Nevada wouldn't have any increase in rates.

He added that the new rates will help end a subsidy by smaller size firms of the costs of larger companies. Many smaller firms would see their premiums decrease by an average 1.9 percent.

The increase would affect only established companies which the council checked to determine the frequency in which their workers needed compensation. The average increase for these firms would be 8.3 percent.

Previously only the state-run Employers Insurance Company of Nevada - formerly the State Industrial Insurance System - provided workers' compensation protection. Now private insurance companies also can sell the policies.