Workers compensation state News Roundup OR, AZ, MO

November 3rd, 2004 by Julie Ferguson

Oregon: Attempt to dismantle SAIF defeated
Voters cast a resounding no vote on Measure 38, a proposal to dismantle SAIF Corp.
The high-profile campaign to abolish SAIF Corp., the state-owned worker’s compensation insurer, was failing by a wide margin in early election returns. Liberty Northwest, the private insurer that bankrolled the campaign, conceded that Measure 38 was doomed in a written statement issued shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday.


Arizona: WCRI profiles workers comp system

The Workers Compensation Research Institute recently issued a profile of the Arizona workers compensation system.
… notable features of Arizona’s workers’ compensation system included a lifetime entitlement to medical and indemnity benefits – payments to replace lost wages – and the active role of the state agency in educating and assisting system participants and reducing litigation.
However, injured workers were subject to some of the lowest weekly benefit levels in the country.

Missouri: Rate of increase declines for Missouri workers’ comp premiums
Safer workplaces appear to be slowing the premium increases for workers’ compensation insurance in Missouri, Department of Insurance Director Scott Lakin said Wednesday.
Based on rate changes for this year filed by 206 insurers, the overall market rate has increased 2 percent this year, compared with 15 percent last year, Lakin said in a written release.