Workers' Comp Rates Increased 37% by Commissioner Jones

November 5, 2011

Against a backdrop of a horrid economy and small businesses in trouble, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today effectively approved a 37% increase in workers’ comp rates for 2012. The decision means California employers will pay a lot more for workers’ comp next year than they did last year. But Democrat Jones tried using numerical trickery to couch his decision and make it a non-news worthy event.

State Fund pays out $30 million; 705 jobs still on chopping block

January 24, 2012
State Compensation Insurance Fund has paid $30 million to 971 state employees who agreed to leave the agency by Dec. 31 and give up their preferential rights to other state government jobs.  Read more...
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State Fund cutting Stockton work force

January 11, 2012
State Compensation Insurance Fund, the workers' compensation company authorized by California law, will lay off 57 employees at its Stockton office by late April, officials confirmed Tuesday.   Read more...
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State Fund to cut 256 jobs at its Pleasanton headquarters

January 11, 2012
The State Compensation Insurance Fund also known as State Fund, plans to eliminate close to 500 jobs at its offices throughout the Bay Area as part of a statewide reduction in force that could see as many as 1,400 of its employees receiving pink slips.  Read more...
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State Fund to cut jobs in Vacaville

January 7, 2012
State Compensation Insurance Fund will eliminate 1,400 jobs statewide -- including 130 in Vacaville -- by April, the insurer said Thursday.   Read more...
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State Compensation Insurance Fund to cut 484 jobs in Bay Area

January 7, 2012
State Compensation Insurance Fund said Thursday it is planning to cut 1,400 jobs in the state, including 484 in the Bay Area, the Contra Costa Times reports.   Read more...
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State Compensation Insurance Fund cuts 484 Bay Area jobs

January 7, 2012
State Compensation Insurance Fund will eliminate 484 jobs in the Bay Area by April, part of an overall reduction of slightly more than 1,400 jobs statewide, the insurer said Thursday.  Read more...
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State Compensation Insurance Fund plans Sonoma County layoffs

January 6, 2012
The State Compensation Insurance Fund plans to lay off up to 60 workers in Sonoma County in the next step of its ongoing efforts to cut costs.  Read more...
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State Compensation Insurance Fund workers take pay to leave

January 5, 2012
Nearly 1,000 State Compensation Insurance Fund employees took an unusual severance package in December that required they leave their jobs by last Friday.   Read more...
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State Compensation Insurance Fund workers take pay to leave

January 5, 2012
Nearly 1,000 State Compensation Insurance Fund employees took an unusual severance package in December that required they leave their jobs by last Friday.  Read more...
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State Fund to cut 15% of jobs; first layoffs in Redding expected at end of year

December 21, 2011
State Compensation Insurance Fund will eliminate 15 percent of its workforce in Redding by April, the company said Wednesday.

The quasi-public workers' comp carrier plans to lay off 32 of the 213 people who work at the Shasta View Drive office off Highway 44.  Read more...

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State Fund Plans 'Dividend' to Employers

December 14, 2011
In a Christmas gift to thousands of employers in Los Angeles County and across the state, State Compensation Insurance Fund has agreed to return $50 million to most of its policyholders throughout the next year.

San Francisco-based State Fund is the largest workers’ compensation insurance carrier in the state with more than 130,000 employer policyholders. The $50 million dividend will be distributed as premium credit to all policyholders who have paid their premiums on time and met other conditions.   Read more...

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State Fund will issue dividend to non-renewing policyholders after all

December 14, 2011
With some urging from state regulators, California State Compensation Insurance Fund will allow non-renewing policyholders to partake in the $50 million dividend that the insurer is issuing.

State Fund, which is California’s largest provider of workers’ comp insurance and employs 548 people locally, will disburse a $50 million dividend to qualifying policyholders in the form of a premium credit. Last month, the insurer stipulated that employers had to renew for 2012 to qualify.  Read more...

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Willis Places Workers' Comp Cat Bond for Calif. State Fund

December 14, 2011
Willis Capital Markets & Advisory, part of insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, announced that it has structured and placed a $200 million catastrophe bond transaction for the State Compensation Insurance Fund, the largest writer of workers’ compensation business in California.  Read more...
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$200 million catastrophe bond covers California workers comp exposures

December 9, 2011
Standard & Poor's Corp. says a catastrophe bond offered by the California State Compensation Insurance Fund for earthquake-related workers compensation losses is valued at $200 million.  Read more...
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State Compensation Insurance Fund: RAND idea; the boss's pay

December 6, 2011
As the quasi-public State Compensation Insurance Fund continues its plan to downsize, several of its employees have contacted The State Worker to point out a section of a 2009 RAND Institute for Civil Justice study that recommends reducing the number of the fund's permanent staff to remove incentives for it to maintain market share to justify State Fund's staffing.   Read more...
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Is State Fund’s Dividend Plan Illegal?

December 6, 2011
Agent and brokers and others are questioning the legality and the fairness of State Funds recent dividend announcement. There are statutes and regulations governing these issue but what will the California Department of Insurance do? Find out the details of the controversy by clicking here....   Read more...
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Auditors to Scrutinize SCIF’s Reorganization

November 30, 2011
State Compensation Insurance Fund’s plan to reorganize its operations and reduce its overall size still generates controversy, so much so that someone outside is paying extra attention. Who's taking a look and why?   Read more...
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Calif. SCIF cat bond to cover earthquake-related workers comp claims

November 29, 2011
The California State Compensation Insurance Fund is expected to close a new catastrophe bond next week that would cover earthquake-related workers compensation claims—a move that an analyst says could be followed by other workers comp insurers.  Read more...
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State Fund offers dividend as a credit

November 24, 2011
The quasi-public State Compensation Insurance Fund, which bills itself as California's largest workers' compensation insurance carrier, said it plans to disburse a $50 million dividend to qualifying policyholders in the form of a premium credit.

The amount is approximately 5.2 percent of the estimated annual premium for the 2011 policy year.  Read more...

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More than 500 Glendale workers set to lose their jobs

November 22, 2011

November 16, 2011 | 4:32 p.m.

California’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance plans to lay off more than 500 employees in Glendale next year — part of an overall strategy to cut up to 1,800 jobs statewide.

The government-controlled State Compensation Insurance Fund had planned to reduce expenses through negotiated concessions, consolidating offices and relocating thousands of workers, but officials said a drop in premiums paid by client companies forced the more drastic action.  Read more...

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State Fund Files RICO Complaint In PEO Case

November 21, 2011
The State Compensation Insurance Fund is raising the stakes in its ongoing battle to collect on a $50 million judgment from a professional employer organization. What's the new twist in the dispute?   Read more...
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Indie status of reps in Calif. could have wide implications

November 21, 2011
As a result of recent audits, the State Compensation Insurance Fund, California's largest workers' compensation insurance company, claims that independent registered reps at Investment Architects Inc. and WBB Securities LLC are really employees, as opposed to independent contractors.  Read more...
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State Fund paying out $50M dividend

November 19, 2011
State Compensation Insurance Fund said Friday that will disburse a $50 million dividend to qualifying policyholders in the form of a premium credit.

State Fund, which is California’s largest provider of workers’ comp insurance and employs 548 people locally, hasn’t issued a dividend since 2001, when it disbursed $92 million, a news release said.  Read more...

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State Fund Workers Protest Cuts

November 18, 2011
Workers at the State Compensation Insurance Fund are facing relocations, layoffs and in some cases both and they¹re letting everyone hear their fears and frustrations. Click here for the video.   Read more...
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FLASH: State Fund Plans To Give Back

November 18, 2011
The State Compensation Insurance Fund announced a change in a decade old policy that could help some of its insured employers. What's the change and how might you benefit?   Read more...
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Indie status of reps up in air after workers' comp insurer fines B-Ds

November 16, 2011
State Compensation Insurance Fund, a workers' comp insurer set up by California's Legislature but operating as an independent company, this summer audited Investment Architects Inc., which has about 30 independent reps in Petaluma, Calif., and WBB Securities LLC of San Diego, which has about 45 reps.

State Fund hit Investment Architects with a $20,000 assessment after the insurer took issue with a phrase in the firm's contract with its independent reps that indicated that the brokers were required to obtain written permission from the firm before affiliating with another broker-dealer.  Read more...

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More than 500 Glendale workers set to lose their jobs

November 16, 2011
California’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance plans to lay off more than 500 employees in Glendale next year — part of an overall strategy to cut up to 1,800 jobs statewide.

The government-controlled State Compensation Insurance Fund had planned to reduce expenses through negotiated concessions, consolidating offices and relocating thousands of workers, but officials said a drop in premiums paid by client companies forced the more drastic action.  Read more...

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Workers' comp insurance fund mostly holding rates steady

November 7, 2011
California State Compensation Insurance Fund, the largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance in the state, reported Monday that it is holding the line on overall rate levels.  Read more...
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WCAB Modifies AME/QME Timeline Decision

November 5, 2011

Moving to eliminate confusion and the potential disruption of thousands of workers' comp cases, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) is clarifying an earlier decision resolving questions about the timelines for selecting agreed medical evaluators (AMEs) and requesting qualified medical evaluator (QME) panels. The modified decision states clearly that its ruling in Messele v. Pitco Foods only applies prospectively from the date of the decision.