Highlights
- As of Jan. 1, 2024, Oregon has the fourteenth lowest average workers’ compensation premium rates.
- Oregon’s average rates are 82 percent of the national median rate.
The Information Technology and Research Section has produced a national study of workers’ compensation rates biennially since 1986. This study is designed to produce an interstate comparison of premium rates.
The study uses the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) classification codes. Of the approximately 446 active classes in Oregon, 50 are selected based on relative importance as measured by share of losses in Oregon. These 50 classes represent the majority of Oregon’s payroll and losses.
The states that do not use the NCCI classification system are also included in the study. Analysts in these states select analogous classes to the NCCI classes, making it possible to compare these states with the states served by NCCI.
The study uses manual rates, which are rates for expected claim costs that include factors for insurer administrative costs and applicable taxes and assessments. A manual rate is determined for jurisdictions that provide pure premium rates by using their reported premium-weighted loss cost multipliers and applying other necessary adjustments. Once manual rates are computed for each of the 50 industry classes for each jurisdiction, Oregon’s loss distribution is then used to compute a weighted average of each state’s rates in terms of dollars per $100 of payroll. This calculated index rate can then be used to compare and rank relative rates across the country.
The insurance premium paid by an employer is affected by other factors, such as premium discounts for quantity purchases, experience modification factors, premium reductions on policies carrying deductible features, retrospective rating plans, and dividends. Nevertheless, because comparable data across states do not exist, not all of these factors can be accounted for in this study.
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