What is Driving Workers Compensation Rates in Minnesota?

Minnesota Labor
and Industry Commissioner Steve Sviggum was in St Cloud this week promoting a
plan to change the Worker Compensation system. Interesting were the facts he used from the Minnesota Department of Labor:

Paid claims from on-the-job injuries in Minnesota fell 35 percent from
1997 to 2006.

A review of the 1995 overhaul of the system clearly
shows benefits have been reduced to the workers. Medical Providers receive less in the system.
Numbers support that workers are being hurt less. Yet Employers are seeing raises in their
premiums?

The plan is punctuated with the concern that
lawyers are the root cause. But when you look close at the numbers, that
doesn’t add up. What does seem to shine through is that the Insurance carriers
continue to push changes which provide less benefits for the Injured workers
and proportionally do little to save money for the Employer.