Through a combination of better safe work practices, tort reform, and good ole' fashioned competition, we have seen workers' compensation rates in Texas fall more than 40% of the last 5 to 7 years.  We talked about some of these improvements in this Adams Advisor article on modifiers from a few years back.

Sometimes we can take these things for granted and assume everywhere is like Texas, a paradise on Earth.  Not so in Washington State.  

Things are not so rosy for employers in the Evergreen State.  Washington is a monopolistic state, meaning that employers can only buy their workers compensation insurance from one market, the government.  Look what they have just announced:

Washington's Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has announced a 12 percent average increase in workers' compensation insurance premiums for 2011. Average premiums would go up by 6.5 cents per hour worked. . . .

"[W]e can't ignore the fact that the severe, persistent recession has increased workers' comp claims costs. We're able to hold down the rate increase to 12 percent largely because L&I has aggressively cut costs, including our own budget, by over $200 million," Schurke said.

Every year in Washington, more than 100,000 claims are filed for medical costs and lost wages due to work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths. Each year, L&I must review premium rates and make adjustments to cover the anticipated costs of claims that will be filed in the next year, she explained.

"We've taken many steps to reduce costs in our claims-management process, such as keeping prescription drug costs to less than half of the national average. But it isn't enough to overcome the negative impact of the economy," Schurke added.

Read the whole sad story here.  God bless Texas!

UPDATE - TDI's Worker's Comp division just released stats that back this up:

The incidence rate for non-fatal injuries declined to 2.9 per 100 equivalent full-time employees, down from 3.1 in 2008.  The national average is 3.6 per 100 workers.  Texas has had a lower incidence than the national average for seven years.  That is pretty amazing when you consider the level of business activity in Texas compared to the rest of the nation.   

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