02/01/2024

DeWine, BWC Request 7 Percent Rate Reduction for Private Employers

This would be the fifth rate reduction in 5 years if enacted

Ohio's private employers could pay nearly $67 million less in premiums next fiscal year due to a 7 percent rate reduction proposed to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation's (BWC) board of directors.

If approved, this reduction would be the fifth straight reduction since Governor Mike DeWine took office in 2019.

If enacted, this reduction would also follow a 3.9 percent rate reduction for public employers — counties, cities, schools and others — that went into effect Jan. 1. Overall, the average rate levels for the 257,000 private and public Ohio employers in the BWC system are at their lowest in at least 60 years.