Good news for all public employees in Ohio! To be effective from the start of 2022, i.e. January 1, all public employees will pay less than what they are paying, by 10%, for their premium coverage. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) revealed that they plan on cutting the public employee premium rates as relief for public sector workers in the next year.

Collectively, this will mean that workers throughout Ohio will pay $17 million less in their premium payments for insurance coverage.

This insurance coverage is meant to compensate public workers in the event of a workplace accident, i.e. to cover the medical costs and assorted losses. However, in light of recent events – lower inflation in the medical sector in Ohio and a decrease in the volume of injury claims in the public sectors – it made sense to cut the premium rates as relief for public workers.

The CEO of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC), Stephanie McCloud expressed relief over the efforts of public sector employers in ensuring the safety of the workplace which led to this reduction in the premium rates.

Since 2009, this is the thirteenth reduction in public employee premium rates from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC). A similar trend has also been seen in the private sector which means that there is a rising trend of awareness about workplace safety among employers across the board, in both the public and private sectors.

Of course, the current reduction is an average, the exact amount paid in premiums will be dictated by several factors such as the history of injury claims, payroll level, classification of employment, and so on.

Though this is a positive indicator of workplace safety awareness, the risk is far from over, and if you ever find yourself in such a situation, contact our Ohio worker’s compensation lawyers for legal representation.

Source: https://info.bwc.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/bwc/news-and-events/news/public-employers-premium-rates-to-drop-10-percent