WorkCompCentral recently had an article about the New York workers compensation system that is mired in high costs and is struggling to find sensible reforms. Here are some highlights:

• The New York workers compensation system is driven by needless litigation, hamstrung by resistance to change and run by a board made up mostly of political cronies, all of which contribute to the high costs of workers compensation insurance in New York.
• Total average costs per lost-time claim in New York had reached $73,055 by policy year 2008 and are projected to exceed $100,000 this year.
• Lost-time claims accounted for 36% of all claims in New York, compared to a national average of 25%.
• Assessments collected by insurers were 20.2% of standard premium – the highest rate in the nation and more than five times the national average.
• Assessments in New York increased by nearly 40% following the Spitzer reforms and were five times the national average.
• The State Insurance Fund, the state’s carrier of last resort, accounts for nearly 38% of the New York workers' compensation market.
• The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board has presided over the "catastrophic" collapse of the New York group self-insured trust system. The board has declared at least 15 trusts insolvent since 2006 and reported nearly $1 billion in unpaid claims.
• The major problem with the New York system is that it runs on vested interests. It’s a volume-based business for attorneys and every single thing that happens has to be okayed by a judge.

If you are a New York broker, chances are you have clients who are struggling to stay afloat with the alarmingly high costs of workers compensation in the State of New York.  In order to keep your current clients happy and win new business, brokers must present their clients and prospects with ways to cut costs on workers compensation insurance. Furthermore, what the above article does not mention is that costs are expected to even rise further for employers in blue-collar industries who experience high-frequency and high-volume losses due to the nature of their business with the upcoming experience rating split point changes. The quickest and easiest way to help your clients and prospects is through workers compensation premium recovery.  Your clients and prospects will be thrilled to recover money on current and prior years’ policies and will enter the renewal marketplace with a better underwriting profile; and you, as the broker, will earn first-year and renewal commissions.