WCRB Evaluating Moving to Scheduled Rating

As some of you may remember, the issue of schedule rating was proposed in Wisconsin roughly 12 years ago. At that time, the committee was split, and the commissioner’s representative weighed in. The representative ultimately voted against using schedule rating in Wisconsin and as a result the proposal failed.

On August 20, 2019 WCRB held a Governing Board Meeting in which schedule rating was again added to the agenda and discussed. IIAW Government Affairs Chairman Jeff Thiel attended the meeting on the Association’s behalf. WCRB Rating Committee has just begun to look into this issue. Several key questions need to be answered before a filing is created and voted upon. It could take up to mid-year 2020 to decide whether or not to create a filing. If the decision is yes, it could be another two quarters (end of 2020) before the filing is formally voted on. If the vote is yes, it is then submitted to OCI for review.

More information on this will be provided as it is made available from WCRB and we will continue to engage stakeholders. I understand the arguments for taking such action, but moving to a scheduled credit system in Wisconsin will likely cause unwarranted disruption in the market and negatively impact agent and broker commission/compensation. The (rhetorical) question I have is, what problem in the marketplace is scheduled credits trying to solve. We have a great workers compensation system in the state of Wisconsin. Let's keep it that way.

In the meantime, I strongly encourage independent agents and brokers to reach out to their workers compensation carriers and start the conversation on what moving away from a dividend system to scheduled credits would mean for their agency and customers. Its time for the agent and broker community to voice their opinions.