A recent editorial by the Marietta Times:

For a fourth straight time, the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation has been able to reduce the rate paid by private employers. According to BWC, this will save those employers nearly $106 million in the coming fiscal year.

It is good to know government is working to save taxpayers and ratepayers money while it can, as there is no guarantee favorable conditions will last. But right now, the 10% rate cut is possible because of declining injury claims and relatively low medical inflation costs.

“We are at a 40-year low for average rate levels for Ohio employers, bolstering Ohio’s already strong business climate,” said BWC Administrator and CEO Stephanie McCloud. “I am thrilled we get to continue to cut rates for both private and public employers.”

As employers do a better job with workplace safety (and have transitioned to allowing some employees to work from home), they are reaping the rewards of that good work. What is encouraging is government’s willingness to let them keep some of the money they have earned. Assessments that make such a rate reduction possible should be standard practice across state bureaucracy.

Employers are to be congratulated then, in putting in the work to reduce claims in the first place; and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation should get a pat on the back for keeping those rate cuts rolling.

— Marietta Times, February 28