There’s good news for nearly 10,000 Delaware companies when it comes to workers’ compensation rates.
Workers’ comp rates decreased in Delaware again in 2019, the third straight year they’ve fallen.
And Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro says that decrease saved companies holding policies in the state in the neighborhood of $4 million.
"To sort of put this in perspective - in 2011, 2012 and 2013 workers’ comp rates went up higher in the State of Delaware than any state in the country,” said Navarro.
Navarro says those high rates prompted the state to act.
“Back then, it was Gov. Markell who put together a task force - they put in a fee schedule," said Navarro. "It used to be if you were injured say playing softball and you injured your shoulder and you had to have a procedure, that procedure might cost $500. But if you were injured on the job, that same procedure might cost $5,000.”
Navarro explains the fee schedule controls workers’ comp costs, with some fees getting tweaked to account for any physicians being reimbursed at a rate that’s less than what the procedure actually costs.
He adds that workers’ comp savings vary, but notes the state’s Workplace Safety Program offers the additional discounts for things like offering effective employee training or identifying and eliminating potential hazardous conditions.
Last year, 1,119 companies participated in the program, saving $7.6 million through safety credits.
