In Oklahoma, it seems their new workers’ compensation system may be working out well for them, as the state expects decreases for work comp premiums three years in a row now. The National Council of Compensation Insurance (NCCI) posted the year’s overall loss decrease at 14.8 percent, and over the past three years the loss cost total was 37.2 percent. The new loss costs will be effective at the beginning of 2016.

Oklahoma’s system transitioned in the past couple of years. Any new claims now go to a workers’ comp commission controlled by the government, while existing cases are handled by the Court of Existing Claims. Employers can also choose to opt out of the state’s system if they can provide their own workers’ compensation plan.

In terms of dollars, that 37.2 total loss cost decrease translated to $368 million for employers in Oklahoma. Some say that that money used to go to lawyers in the state’s workers’ compensation courts but the reforms did away with that court system and now employers can use that extra money to hire more workers. Others are not happy with the decreases because they think it means rather than going towards benefiting workers and employers it mostly benefits employers. Michael Clingman used to run the state’s work comp courts but now advocates with the group Oklahoma Coalition for Workers Rights. He says that with the new system, injured workers have to be assessed using the AMA’s Guide to Permanent Impairment which can be considered “stricter” than other standards, so they would not receive benefits as often. The president of the state’s Chamber of Commerce, Fred Morgan, said going against those guidelines is fairer to an employee than going against a trial judge or lawyers.

Since it is a relatively new and different system than most states, I am sure that Oklahoma’s performance (whether good or bad) will continue to be monitored pretty closely.