13.4 Percent Comp Rate Cut Proposed for Massachusetts
Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes will convene a hearing today to consider the request of the Workers' Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts for a revision of workers' compensation insurance risks and premiums that would cut average rates 13.4 percent statewide. The bureau, a private association of insurers that is licensed by the Massachusetts Division of Insurance as a rating organization for comp insurance, filed March 1 for the rate cut with a proposed effective date of Sept. 1, 2007.
The hearing is set to begin at 10 a.m. division offices in Boston. All interested persons will have the opportunity to provide evidence and testimony relating to the proposal so Burnes, who was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick in February 2007, can determine whether the proposed classifications and rates are excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory for the risks to which they apply and whether they fall within a "range of reasonableness."
Before taking her current job, Burnes was a justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court. As for the bureau (https://www.wcribma.org/mass/), it collects claims and financial data from all carriers licensed to sell workers' comp insurance in Massachusetts and files rates, classifications, and rating plans on behalf of member insurers.