Catherine Montgomery, DaisyBill:

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) released its 2026 State of the Line report, and its conclusions are no surprise to industry experts: workers’ comp remains a profitable line of insurance, even as most states lower employers’ premium rates.

…and then there’s California, where the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) insists that employers pay more for comp coverage.

Some industry experts, including, according to Workers’ Comp Executive, NCCI chief actuary Donna Glenn, note the unique preponderance of cumulative trauma (CT) claims in California. However, many costs related to CT claims reflect issues that are arguably the result of insurers’ choices, such as litigation costs and disability payments resulting from battles over delayed and denied care...

In other words, as the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute demonstrated in its recent CompScope report, medical treatment costs cannot explain California employers’ ever-increasing premiums.

Read the full article here. For more information on CompScope™ Benchmarks for California, 2026 Edition, including how to download a copy, visit its page on our website!