As if it weren’t enough that the good folks in Las Vegas attacked California in an ad campaign last year, we find now find ourselves under the microscope again.
This time it’s from the land of Duck and Beavers, Oregon.
Instead of a catchy TV campaign to lure business to the collapsing heap that is Vegas, Oregon dresses up its come hither look in a policy paper.
That would be the “2010 Oregon Pure Premium Rate Ranking Survey”.
On the measures cited in that study, California is a high-cost workers’ comp state, among a handful of states with workers’ comp costs at $2.50 or above per $100 of payroll. The study claims that California is now fifth highest in costs, up from 9th in 2009.
Those costs, of course, have little or nothing to do with the recent Guzman and Ogilvie decisions. The significant cost driver in California workers’ comp has been growth in the cost of medical treatment and expenses associated with medical cost containment efforts such as utilization review.
But these Oregon-collected stats are sure to be cited as Governor Brown and the legislature are asked to look at further comp reforms.
It’s one more reason why knowledgeable folks in the comp community hope for gradual positive changes, but don’t expect grand or dramatic fixes.
You can see the Oregon study here:
http://www4.cbs.state.or.us/ex/imd/repo … D=FEARA012
Stay tuned. And check back in a few days for a link to two recently recorded segments on thecompguys.org, the YouTube based series I do with defense attorney Richard “Jake” Jacobsmeyer.
Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com
Category: Political developments
510.835.8870