California Assembly Passes Comp Bill

A bill that would allow the insurance commissioner to determine whether workers‘ compensation rates are adequate was passed yesterday by the California Assembly. AB 1985, authored by Assemblyman Tom Calderon, D-Montebello, was a measure sought by California Insurance Commissioner Harry Low. It was designed to "stop the overwhelming rate of insolvent insurance companies leaving thousands of employers without workers‘ compensation coverage, and injured workers forced to receive benefits through the California Insurance Guarantee Fund," Mr. Calderon said in a statement with the bill. The measure allows the commissioner to disapprove rates that the department believes would be "inadequate, unfairly discriminatory, or tend to create a monopoly in the marketplace," according to the statement.